Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Shares Pass Above 50 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report)'s share price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.44 and traded as high as $38.42. Bankwell Financial Group shares last traded at $38.34, with a volume of 25,578 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Bankwell Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st. Hovde Group upgraded Bankwell Financial Group to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $38.50 in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Down 0.3%

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $298.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.12 and a beta of 0.66.

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

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Bankwell Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.96%.

Insider Activity at Bankwell Financial Group

In other news, insider Ryan Jason Hildebrand sold 1,282 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.86, for a total value of $47,254.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $75,599.86. This trade represents a 38.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 807 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.36, for a total value of $26,921.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $51,641.28. The trade was a 34.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 1,306 shares of company stock valued at $46,585 and sold 2,478 shares valued at $88,410. 19.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3,002.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 174,584 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,438,000 after purchasing an additional 40,458 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $8,998,000 after purchasing an additional 7,363 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 60.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 102.7% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,590 shares of the bank's stock worth $735,000 after purchasing an additional 11,952 shares during the last quarter. 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.