Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $28.46 and traded as high as $31.48. Washington Trust Bancorp shares last traded at $31.26, with a volume of 104,413 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WASH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Washington Trust Bancorp from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Washington Trust Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.33.

Washington Trust Bancorp Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a market cap of $594.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.66, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.46. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.10. Washington Trust Bancorp had a positive return on equity of 8.90% and a negative net margin of 6.22%.The business had revenue of $56.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.39 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. Washington Trust Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -140.88%.

Institutional Trading of Washington Trust Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of WASH. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC bought a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Ransom Advisory Ltd bought a new position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 200.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. 65.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Washington Trust Bancorp Company Profile

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for The Washington Trust Company, of Westerly that provides various banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. The company operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management Services. The Commercial Banking segment offers deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand deposits, NOW and savings accounts, money market and retirement deposit accounts, and time deposits; various commercial and retail lending products, such as commercial real estate loans, including commercial mortgages, and construction and development loans; commercial and industrial loans comprising working capital, equipment financing, and financing for other business-related purposes; residential real estate loans that consist of mortgage and homeowner construction loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines of credit, personal installment loans, and loans to individuals secured by general aviation aircraft.