Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Short Interest Update

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) saw a large 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. Approximately 1.8% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 14,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.4 days.

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 transaction of $50,602.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $402,838.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 19.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 89,154 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,262,000 after acquiring an additional 6,341 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 valued at $7,100,000 after acquiring an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,875 shares of the bank's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 35.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Bankwell Financial Group Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of BWFG traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.64. The company had a trading volume of 7,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,108. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.41. Bankwell Financial Group has a 52 week low of $22.47 and a 52 week high of $31.09. The company has a market capitalization of $225.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.51 and a beta of 0.83.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $49.35 million for the quarter.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Bankwell Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.83%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.