Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Bankwell Financial Group experienced a 50.4% increase in short interest during August, with total short interest reaching 152,400 shares as of August 15th.
• Analysts have varying opinions on the stock, with a consensus target price of $42.00 and some brokerages upgrading or downgrading their ratings recently.
• The company reported $1.15 EPS for the last quarter, significantly beating the consensus estimate of $0.87, alongside revenues that surpassed expectations.

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 152,400 shares, an increase of 50.4% from the July 31st total of 101,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 24,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 24,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.1 days.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:BWFG traded up $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $45.63. The company had a trading volume of 63,523 shares, compared to its average volume of 36,615. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.19. The firm has a market cap of $359.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 0.71. Bankwell Financial Group has a 1-year low of $26.39 and a 1-year high of $46.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

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

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Bankwell Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Lawrence B. Seidman acquired 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $44.54 per share, with a total value of $489,940.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 187,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,346,662.38. The trade was a 6.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Todd Lampert sold 3,300 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $572,310.57. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 12,083 shares of company stock valued at $535,913 and have sold 9,688 shares valued at $396,525. Corporate insiders own 19.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 60.2% in the second quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 266,865 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,615,000 after purchasing an additional 100,302 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $682,000. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 15.6% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 104,477 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 14,119 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $281,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the first quarter worth approximately $250,000. 35.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on BWFG shares. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Bankwell Financial Group from $38.50 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.00.

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.