Empowered Funds LLC Makes New $1.89 Million Investment in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. $BWFG

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 32,191 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,891,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BWFG. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 111.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 41,342 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,006,000 after acquiring an additional 21,786 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $28,974,000. Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $443,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Bankwell Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $406,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 31,421 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,846,000 after purchasing an additional 3,681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ryan Hildebrand sold 2,246 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.74, for a total value of $149,898.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lawrence Seidman acquired 2,540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $65.92 per share, with a total value of $167,436.80. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 223,684 shares in the company, valued at $14,745,249.28. This represents a 1.15% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 20.98% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BWFG. Hovde Group upped their target price on Bankwell Financial Group from $51.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Bankwell Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Bankwell Financial Group from $62.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Bankwell Financial Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $67.50.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of BWFG stock opened at $66.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $527.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.37. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.44 and a 1 year high of $69.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The bank reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $32.78 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.63 million. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 19.80%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

About Bankwell Financial Group

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in New Canaan, Connecticut, and serves as the parent company of Bankwell Bank. Bankwell Bank provides commercial, business and personal banking services, with branch locations primarily across Fairfield and New Haven counties in Connecticut, along with a New York presence.

The company’s deposit offerings include checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit, all supported by an online and mobile banking platform for convenient account access.