Nuveen LLC Acquires New Holdings in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. $BWFG

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC has invested $244,000 in Bankwell Financial Group by purchasing 8,096 shares during the 1st quarter, marking a new position for the institutional investor.
• Several institutional investors, including Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, have also made significant transactions involving Bankwell Financial Group's stock in recent months, demonstrating increased interest in the company.
• Bankwell Financial Group's stock has received varied analyst ratings, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $42.00, indicating cautious optimism among analysts.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 8,096 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $244,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Bankwell Financial Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in BWFG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 288,871 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,998,000 after purchasing an additional 7,363 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 655.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,564 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 11,834 shares of the bank's stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,969 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 54,765 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,706,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $104,000. 35.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BWFG. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $38.50 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Bankwell Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.00.

Insider Activity at Bankwell Financial Group

In related news, insider Ryan Jason Hildebrand sold 2,051 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.69, for a total transaction of $81,404.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 3,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $132,326.46. The trade was a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $139,557.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $572,310.57. This represents a 19.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 1,083 shares of company stock valued at $45,973 and have sold 9,267 shares valued at $377,769. 19.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of BWFG traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $44.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,536. The company has a market cap of $351.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.99. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.39 and a 52-week high of $44.79.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $47.14 million during 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 7.44%.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Bankwell Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 31.01%.

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.