Bankwell Financial Group (BWFG) Competitors

Bank First National (NASDAQ:BFC) and Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk, media sentiment and valuation.

Do analysts prefer BFC or BWFG?

Bank First National currently has a consensus price target of $120.50, suggesting a potential downside of 2.03%. Bankwell Financial Group has a consensus price target of $40.25, suggesting a potential upside of 8.55%. Given Bankwell Financial Group's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bankwell Financial Group is more favorable than Bank First National.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bank First National	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Bankwell Financial Group	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Is BFC or BWFG a better dividend stock?

Bank First National pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Bankwell Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Bank First National pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bankwell Financial Group pays out 51.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Bank First National has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years.

Which has more risk and volatility, BFC or BWFG?

Bank First National has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bankwell Financial Group has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, BFC or BWFG?

Bank First National has higher revenue and earnings than Bankwell Financial Group. Bank First National is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bankwell Financial Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bank First National	$226.09M	5.40	$65.56M	$6.81	18.06
Bankwell Financial Group	$195.71M	1.49	$9.77M	$1.57	23.62

Does the media refer more to BFC or BWFG?

In the previous week, Bankwell Financial Group had 3 more articles in the media than Bank First National. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Bankwell Financial Group and 2 mentions for Bank First National. Bank First National's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Bankwell Financial Group's score of 0.63 indicating that Bank First National is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Bank First National	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Bankwell Financial Group	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is BFC or BWFG more profitable?

Bank First National has a net margin of 29.22% compared to Bankwell Financial Group's net margin of 6.33%. Bank First National's return on equity of 10.73% beat Bankwell Financial Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bank First National	29.22%	10.73%	1.56%
Bankwell Financial Group	6.33%	4.60%	0.39%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of BFC or BWFG?

30.0% of Bank First National shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 35.8% of Bankwell Financial Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.4% of Bank First National shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.5% of Bankwell Financial Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Bank First National beats Bankwell Financial Group on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.