Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.20 (NASDAQ:BWFG)

Key Points

• Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, payable on November 21st to investors of record as of November 10th, reflecting an annualized yield of 1.8%.
• The company reported a strong earnings performance, with $1.15 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly surpassing the estimated $0.87.
• Insider trading activity included a purchase of 17,000 shares by Director Lawrence B. Seidman, increasing his ownership by 9.58%, while other directors have also sold portions of their holdings.

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the bank on Friday, November 21st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th.

Bankwell Financial Group has a payout ratio of 16.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

Bankwell Financial Group stock traded up $0.24 during trading on Thursday, hitting $43.88. 31,588 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,035. The business's 50 day moving average is $43.15 and its 200 day moving average is $37.87. Bankwell Financial Group has a 52 week low of $26.39 and a 52 week high of $48.03. The company has a market capitalization of $345.34 million, a P/E ratio of 17.01 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $47.14 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $24.20 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 10.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bankwell Financial Group

In related news, Director Lawrence B. Seidman bought 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $45.91 per share, for a total transaction of $780,470.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 194,509 shares in the company, valued at $8,929,908.19. The trade was a 9.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Todd Lampert sold 3,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total transaction of $139,557.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $572,310.57. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have purchased 29,083 shares of company stock worth $1,316,383 and have sold 8,017 shares worth $335,036. Corporate insiders own 19.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 722 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 71.8% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3,002.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 38.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,124 shares of the bank's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 35.80% of the company's stock.

About Bankwell Financial Group

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.

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