Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.33 EPS

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

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BWFG traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.74. 11,685 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,499. Bankwell Financial Group has a twelve month low of $22.47 and a twelve month high of $35.25. The firm has a market cap of $233.76 million, a P/E ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.34. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,002 shares in the company, valued at $99,005.96. This represents a 30.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Darryl Demos purchased 2,290 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $32.61 per share, for a total transaction of $74,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,967.16. This trade represents a 39.04 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 2,975 shares of company stock worth $97,217. 19.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Bankwell Financial Group from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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.