Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.33 EPS

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) posted its 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 Price Performance

Shares of BWFG stock traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $29.74. 11,685 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,499. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.34. Bankwell Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $22.47 and a fifty-two week high of $35.25. The company has a market cap of $233.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.25 and a beta of 0.88. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is 41.03%.

Insider Activity at Bankwell Financial Group

In other news, EVP Steven H. Brunner sold 1,330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.98, for a total transaction of $43,863.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,002 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,005.96. This represents a 30.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Darryl Demos bought 2,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $32.61 per share, with a total value of $74,676.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,967.16. This represents a 39.04 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 2,975 shares of company stock worth $97,217 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 19.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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