Short Interest in Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Drops By 10.7%

Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 93,900 shares, a drop of 10.7% from the March 15th total of 105,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.0 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Bankwell Financial Group Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of BWFG opened at $23.19 on Wednesday. Bankwell Financial Group has a 52-week low of $21.22 and a 52-week high of $30.83. The stock has a market cap of $184.13 million, a PE ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Bankwell Financial Group (NASDAQ:BWFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter. Bankwell Financial Group had a net margin of 18.97% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The firm had revenue of $23.37 million for the quarter.

Bankwell Financial Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. Bankwell Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Bankwell Financial Group from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bankwell Financial Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bridge City Capital LLC boosted its stake in Bankwell Financial Group by 17.9% during the first quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 11,718 shares of the bank’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 327,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,878,000 after acquiring an additional 5,345 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 88.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 19,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 9,178 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Bankwell Financial Group by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 17,620 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 7,935 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Bankwell Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $238,000. 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.