Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 36,508 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the previous session’s volume of 51,657 shares.The stock last traded at $66.7790 and had previously closed at $67.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BWFG. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.50.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $63.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.63. The company has a market cap of $532.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $32.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $30.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 19.80%. As a group, research analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Activity at Bankwell Financial Group

In related news, insider Ryan Hildebrand sold 2,246 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.74, for a total transaction of $149,898.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Seidman purchased 2,540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.92 per share, for a total transaction of $167,436.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 223,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,745,249.28. The trade was a 1.15% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 20.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BWFG. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 111.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,342 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,006,000 after buying an additional 21,786 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,287,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter worth $1,891,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,974,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $443,000. Institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut, and serves as the parent company of Bankwell Bank. Bankwell Bank provides commercial, business and personal banking services, with branch locations primarily across Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut, along with a New York presence.

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.