Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Now Covered by Analysts at Hovde Group

Equities research analysts at Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday. The brokerage set a "market perform" rating and a $38.50 price target on the bank's stock. Hovde Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 9.44% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:BWFG opened at $35.18 on Monday. 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 50-day simple moving average of $33.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.97 million, a PE ratio of 22.41 and a beta of 0.67. Bankwell Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.80 and a 52-week high of $36.00.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $23.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 4.60% and a net margin of 6.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.36, for a total transaction of $26,921.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,548 shares in the company, valued at $51,641.28. This represents a 34.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have acquired 1,306 shares of company stock worth $46,585. 19.48% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 30.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 174,584 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,438,000 after acquiring an additional 40,458 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 288,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,998,000 after buying an additional 7,363 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 13,733 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 11,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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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