Kevin D. Leitao Purchases 2,000 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Kevin D. Leitao purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.38 per share, with a total value of $60,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares in the company, valued at $136,710. The trade was a 80.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:BWFG traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.63. 10,350 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,405. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $35.25. The company has a market capitalization of $240.75 million, a PE ratio of 25.96 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.57.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.33). Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 3.48%.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BWFG. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,867 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,100,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,642 shares of the bank’s stock worth $588,000 after buying an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 89,807 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,690,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 60.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,890 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the period. Finally, Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $776,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

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.