Carl Porto Acquires 327 Shares of Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Stock

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Director Carl Porto bought 327 shares of Bankwell Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $67.11 per share, with a total value of $21,944.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 22,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,503,062.67. This trade represents a 1.48% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Up 1.4%

BWFG opened at $67.65 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $539.17 million, a P/E ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.02. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.44 and a fifty-two week high of $69.59.

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

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BWFG. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,262 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in Bankwell Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $250,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth about $148,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 159,384 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,744,000 after acquiring an additional 8,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 10,119 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,335 shares in the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Key Headlines Impacting Bankwell Financial Group

Here are the key news stories impacting Bankwell Financial Group this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Lawrence Seidman purchased 5,266 shares for approximately $352,506, increasing his stake by 2.39%. The sizable purchase may signal confidence in BWFG’s valuation and outlook. SEC filing
• Positive Sentiment: Four additional directors—Carl Porto, Blake Drexler, Jeffrey Dunne and Eric Dale—bought a combined 1,234 shares for approximately $82,814 at prices near $67.11. The coordinated purchases reinforce the positive insider-buying signal. Insider trading article
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short interest was zero shares as of September 10, unchanged from the prior reported total of zero. The resulting 0.0-day short-interest ratio suggests limited short-selling activity, although the report’s stated percentage change is not meaningful because both figures are zero.

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.