Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.28 EPS

Key Points

• Bankwell Financial Group reported earnings of $1.15 per share, surpassing analysts' estimates of $0.81 by $0.34.
• The company is experiencing a positive trend in stock performance, with shares up by 1.3% and a market cap of $294.26 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded their ratings for Bankwell Financial Group, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising their price target from $40.00 to $42.00.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.28, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $47.14 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.20 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 7.52%.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:BWFG traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.42. 24,384 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,327. Bankwell Financial Group has a 12-month low of $24.83 and a 12-month high of $41.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $310.20 million, a PE ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.66.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. Bankwell Financial Group's payout ratio is 50.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, insider Ryan Jason Hildebrand sold 1,282 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.86, for a total transaction of $47,254.52. Following the transaction, the insider owned 2,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,599.86. This represents a 38.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,306 shares of company stock worth $46,585 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 19.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,262 shares of the bank's stock worth $642,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $250,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $148,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on BWFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $38.50 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company.

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.