Don't Ignore The Insider Selling In Bankwell Financial Group

We note that the Bankwell Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWFG) Executive VP & Chief Innovation Officer, Ryan Hildebrand, recently sold US$67k worth of stock for US$35.49 per share. On the bright side, that's just a small sale and only reduced their holding by 8.0%.

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The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Bankwell Financial Group

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider sale was by the CEO & Director, Christopher Gruseke, for US$114k worth of shares, at about US$32.12 per share. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$34.81, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. When an insider sells below the current price, it suggests that they considered that lower price to be fair. That makes us wonder what they think of the (higher) recent valuation. Please do note, however, that sellers may have a variety of reasons for selling, so we don't know for sure what they think of the stock price. This single sale was just 1.8% of Christopher Gruseke's stake.

Happily, we note that in the last year insiders paid US$514k for 16.59k shares. But insiders sold 19.34k shares worth US$602k. Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Bankwell Financial Group shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

Check out our latest analysis for Bankwell Financial Group

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Does Bankwell Financial Group Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. Insiders own 9.7% of Bankwell Financial Group shares, worth about US$27m. We've certainly seen higher levels of insider ownership elsewhere, but these holdings are enough to suggest alignment between insiders and the other shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Bankwell Financial Group Tell Us?

Insider selling has just outweighed insider buying in the last three months. But the net divestment is not enough to concern us at all. Recent insider selling makes us a little nervous, in light of the broader picture of Bankwell Financial Group insider transactions. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. So these insider transactions can help us build a thesis about the stock, but it's also worthwhile knowing the risks facing this company. While conducting our analysis, we found that Bankwell Financial Group has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

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For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.