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

Key Points

• Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) shares recently crossed above their 50-day moving average of $42.43, hitting a high of $43.63 during trading.
• The company reported strong earnings for the last quarter with an EPS of $1.15, significantly exceeding the consensus estimate of $0.87.
• Bankwell Financial Group announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.8%, with a payout ratio of 31.01%.

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) shares crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.43 and traded as high as $43.63. Bankwell Financial Group shares last traded at $43.47, with a volume of 17,943 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BWFG. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Bankwell Financial Group from $38.50 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Bankwell Financial Group in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $342.24 million, a P/E ratio of 16.85 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.74. 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 released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.28. The firm 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%.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Bankwell Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 31.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bankwell Financial Group

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, insider Ryan Jason Hildebrand sold 2,051 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.69, for a total value of $81,404.19. Following the sale, the insider owned 3,334 shares in the company, valued at approximately $132,326.46. The trade was a 38.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.29, for a total value of $139,557.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,533 shares in the company, valued at $572,310.57. The trade was a 19.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 29,083 shares of company stock worth $1,316,383 and have sold 8,017 shares worth $335,036. Company insiders own 19.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 105,066 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,786,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,262 shares of the bank's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 47,079 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,696,000 after purchasing an additional 815 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.

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