Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Lowered to Buy Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

BWFG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Bankwell Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Hovde Group upped their price objective on Bankwell Financial Group from $38.50 to $42.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Bankwell Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

BWFG stock opened at $39.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.07 million, a PE ratio of 15.42 and a beta of 0.71. Bankwell Financial Group has a 1 year low of $25.40 and a 1 year high of $41.13.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $47.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.20 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 10.27%.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Ryan Jason Hildebrand sold 2,051 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.69, for a total value of $81,404.19. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,326.46. This represents a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 1,306 shares of company stock valued at $46,585 and sold 3,722 shares valued at $142,892. Corporate insiders own 19.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BWFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,590 shares of the bank’s stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 11,952 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 148,035 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,612,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 11,338 shares of the bank’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 36,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 13,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 21,829 shares of the bank’s stock worth $681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares in the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bankwell Financial Group Company Profile

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Bankwell Bank that provides various banking services for individual and commercial customers. It offers various traditional depository products, including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit. The company also provides first mortgage loans secured by one-to-four family owner occupied residential properties for personal use; home equity loans and home equity lines of credit secured by owner occupied one-to-four family residential properties; loans secured by commercial real estate, multi-family dwellings, owner-occupied commercial real estate, and investor-owned one-to-four family dwellings; commercial construction loans for commercial development projects, including apartment buildings and condominiums, as well as office buildings, retail, and other income producing properties; land loans; commercial business loans secured by assignments of corporate assets and personal guarantees of the business owners; loans to finance insurance premiums; overdraft lines of credit; and unsecured personal loans.