Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC Grows Position in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG)

Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) by 30.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 174,584 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,458 shares during the quarter. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 2.22% of Bankwell Financial Group worth $5,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,017 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 90,358 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,815,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 60.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,890 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Bankwell Financial Group by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 20,560 shares of the bank’s stock worth $640,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 147,342 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,413,000 after acquiring an additional 5,438 shares during the period. 35.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Eric J. Dale bought 875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.42 per share, for a total transaction of $26,617.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 38,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,176,706.44. This trade represents a 2.31 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kevin D. Leitao purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.38 per share, for a total transaction of $60,760.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $136,710. This trade represents a 80.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have bought 2,970 shares of company stock valued at $90,136 and have sold 6,147 shares valued at $193,975. Corporate insiders own 19.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on 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 Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:BWFG opened at $30.25 on Thursday. Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.47 and a 12-month high of $35.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $30.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $30.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $239.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64 and a beta of 0.95.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by ($0.33). Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 3.48%.

Bankwell Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Bankwell Financial Group’s payout ratio is 67.80%.

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.