Eric Dale Purchases 530 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Key Points

• Director Eric Dale purchased 530 Bankwell Financial Group shares at an average price of $67.11, investing $35,568.30 and increasing his ownership by 1.25% to 43,026 shares.
• Bankwell reported quarterly EPS of $1.52, exceeding the $1.29 analyst consensus, while revenue of $32.78 million also surpassed estimates. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, yielding approximately 1.2%.
• Analysts have a consensus “Buy” rating on BWFG, with an average price target of $67.50; target increases included Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raising its target to $72.00.

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) Director Eric Dale bought 530 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $67.11 per share, for a total transaction of $35,568.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 43,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,887,474.86. This trade represents a 1.25% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

BWFG opened at $66.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $527.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $64.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.75. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.44 and a twelve month high of $69.59.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.23. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 19.80%.The firm had revenue of $32.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $30.63 million. Equities analysts expect that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Bankwell Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BWFG. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 22,223 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,306,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 1,270.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,935 shares of the bank's stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 4,575 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,891,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,283,000. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on BWFG shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Zacks Research raised Bankwell Financial Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $67.50.

Bankwell Financial Group Company Profile

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut, and serves as the parent company of Bankwell Bank. Bankwell Bank provides commercial, business and personal banking services, with branch locations primarily across Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut, along with a New York presence.

The company’s deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit, all supported by an online and mobile banking platform for convenient account access.

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