Short Interest in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Decreases By 12.4%

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 92,900 shares, a decline of 12.4% from the October 15th total of 106,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 14,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Bankwell Financial Group

In related news, EVP Christine Chivily sold 1,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.88, for a total transaction of $50,602.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,838.12. The trade was a 11.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 19.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Bankwell Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BWFG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 329,246 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,541,000 after acquiring an additional 1,933 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,867 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,100,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 3.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 147,342 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,413,000 after purchasing an additional 5,438 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 653 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of BWFG traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,500. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.00. Bankwell Financial Group has a 52-week low of $22.47 and a 52-week high of $33.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $253.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.83.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $49.35 million during the quarter. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 7.77% and a return on equity of 5.74%.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Bankwell Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th.

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.