Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.33 EPS

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.33), Zacks reports. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 7.77%.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 3.4 %

NASDAQ BWFG opened at $30.75 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.38. The company has a market capitalization of $241.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77 and a beta of 0.88. Bankwell Financial Group has a 12 month low of $22.47 and a 12 month high of $35.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Darryl Demos acquired 2,290 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $32.61 per share, with a total value of $74,676.90. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 8,156 shares in the company, valued at $265,967.16. This represents a 39.04 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.98, for a total value of $43,863.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,002 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,005.96. This represents a 30.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 2,975 shares of company stock worth $97,217. 19.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.