Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on BWFG. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of 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.

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BWFG opened at $41.17 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.52. Bankwell Financial Group has a 52 week low of $25.70 and a 52 week high of $41.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $324.01 million, a P/E ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.28. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 10.27% and a return on equity of 7.44%. The company had revenue of $47.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.20 million.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.01%.

Insider Activity at Bankwell Financial Group

In related news, insider Ryan Jason Hildebrand sold 2,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.69, for a total transaction of $81,404.19. Following the transaction, the insider owned 3,334 shares in the company, valued at $132,326.46. This trade represents a 38.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,306 shares of company stock worth $46,585 and have sold 3,722 shares worth $142,892. 19.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BWFG. Fourthstone LLC grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 307.5% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 105,585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,289,000 after buying an additional 79,673 shares during the last quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc acquired a new position in Bankwell Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $682,000. GM Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 15.6% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 104,477 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,153,000 after buying an additional 14,119 shares during the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 60.8% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 36,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 13,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 102.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,590 shares of the bank’s stock worth $735,000 after buying an additional 11,952 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.