Insider Selling: Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) EVP Sells $30,737.46 in Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) EVP Christine Chivily sold 942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $30,737.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,047 shares in the company, valued at $523,613.61. This represents a 5.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of BWFG opened at $30.99 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.02. The company has a market capitalization of $243.58 million, a P/E ratio of 26.26 and a beta of 0.87. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.47 and a 1-year high of $35.25.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.32 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 67.80%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BWFG. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.0% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.7% during the third 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 last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 60.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,890 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC bought a new position in Bankwell Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $776,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,017 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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.

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.