Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Acquires 918 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG)

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,765 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 918 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bankwell Financial Group were worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC increased its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 20,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $623,000 after purchasing an additional 6,710 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 164.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 11,638 shares of the bank’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 7,238 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $624,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,560 shares of the bank’s stock worth $640,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 30,262 shares of the bank’s stock worth $943,000 after acquiring an additional 7,908 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BWFG opened at $34.17 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.87. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.80 and a fifty-two week high of $35.25. The company has a market capitalization of $269.57 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted 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 return on equity of 3.48% and a net margin of 4.76%. The company had revenue of $23.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.63 million.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.36, for a total value of $26,921.52. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,641.28. This represents a 34.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric J. Dale bought 875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $30.42 per share, for a total transaction of $26,617.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 38,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,176,706.44. The trade was a 2.31 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 19.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BWFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Bankwell Financial Group 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.