Short Interest in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Increases By 7.8%

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 106,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the September 30th total of 98,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 7.4 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bankwell Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:BWFG traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $28.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,186. The company has a market capitalization of $224.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.49 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Bankwell Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $31.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.38 and a 200-day moving average of $26.42.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.32. Bankwell Financial Group had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $49.35 million during the quarter.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 20.83%.

Insider Activity at Bankwell Financial Group

In other Bankwell Financial Group news, EVP Christine Chivily sold 1,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.88, for a total value of $50,602.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,838.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 19.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BWFG. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Bankwell Financial Group by 119.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,901 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,444 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 1,225 shares during the period. GM Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 82,813 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,148,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 329,246 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,548 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.80% of the company’s stock.

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.