Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman Acquires 10,000 Shares

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence Seidman acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.88 per share, for a total transaction of $468,800.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 212,819 shares in the company, valued at $9,976,954.72. The trade was a 4.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:BWFG opened at $46.83 on Friday. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.39 and a 52-week high of $51.54. The company has a market capitalization of $373.70 million, a P/E ratio of 10.55 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.16. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 12.21% and a net margin of 16.94%.The firm had revenue of $30.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.06 million.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $250,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Bankwell Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $148,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 93,233 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,357,000 after purchasing an additional 4,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 159,384 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,744,000 after purchasing an additional 8,178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BWFG has been the topic of several research reports. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.00.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Westchester, Illinois, and serves as the parent of Bankwell Bank. Through its subsidiary, the company provides a full suite of banking products and services designed for both individual consumers and small‐ to mid‐sized businesses. Bankwell Bank operates multiple branches across suburban Cook and Lake counties, focusing on personalized service and local decision‐making.

The company’s deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit, all supported by an online and mobile banking platform for convenient account access.