Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Lawrence B. Seidman Buys 550 Shares

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) Director Lawrence B. Seidman bought 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $35.67 per share, with a total value of $19,618.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,327 shares of the company's stock, valued at $118,674.09. This trade represents a 19.81% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ BWFG traded up $0.28 on Thursday, reaching $35.88. 10,113 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,032. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.80 and a fifty-two week high of $36.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.58. The firm has a market cap of $282.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.41 and a beta of 0.67.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 3.48%. The company had revenue of $23.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.63 million.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.20 dividend. 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 2.23%. Bankwell Financial Group's payout ratio is 50.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price 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 downgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BWFG. Fourthstone LLC increased its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 307.5% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 105,585 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,289,000 after buying an additional 79,673 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 40,458 shares in the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc purchased a new position in Bankwell Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $682,000. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 15.6% during the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 104,477 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 14,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 13,733 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.80% of the company's stock.

Bankwell Financial Group Company Profile

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.