Weiss Ratings Reiterates Buy (B-) Rating for Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "Buy (B-)" rating for Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) amidst positive developments from other analysts, including a price target increase from $38.50 to $42.00 by Hovde Group.
• Bankwell Financial Group reported a Q3 earnings per share of $1.27, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.02, alongside revenue of $27.76 million.
• Insider trading activity has been notable, with a director purchasing 17,000 shares, while another insider sold 2,051 shares, indicating mixed sentiment among company leaders.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b-)" rating reiterated by research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report released on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on BWFG. Hovde Group boosted their price target on Bankwell Financial Group from $38.50 to $42.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Bankwell Financial Group in a report on Thursday, June 26th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ BWFG traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $44.61. The stock had a trading volume of 17,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,012. The company has a market capitalization of $351.08 million, a P/E ratio of 17.29 and a beta of 0.68. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $43.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.98. Bankwell Financial Group has a 52 week low of $26.39 and a 52 week high of $48.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The bank reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $27.76 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $27.26 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 7.44% and a net margin of 10.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, insider Ryan Jason Hildebrand sold 2,051 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.69, for a total transaction of $81,404.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,334 shares in the company, valued at $132,326.46. This represents a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Lawrence B. Seidman acquired 17,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.91 per share, with a total value of $780,470.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 194,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,929,908.19. This represents a 9.58% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 29,083 shares of company stock valued at $1,316,383 and sold 8,017 shares valued at $335,036. 19.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BWFG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 3,002.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,086 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $217,000. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 2.6% in the first quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC now owns 179,127 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,406,000 after buying an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,636 shares of the bank's stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $244,000. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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