Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.3333.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WASH shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of WASH opened at $30.22 on Friday. Washington Trust Bancorp has a one year low of $24.95 and a one year high of $34.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $575.09 million, a P/E ratio of -19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.4%. Washington Trust Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently -140.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Washington Trust Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WASH. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 91.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 436,454 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,343,000 after acquiring an additional 208,586 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 173.8% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 88,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,554,000 after purchasing an additional 56,102 shares during the period. Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp during the third quarter worth $962,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $857,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 181,692 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,251,000 after buying an additional 27,625 shares during the period. 65.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Washington Trust Bancorp

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc is the bank holding company for The Washington Trust Company, a community bank headquartered in Westerly, Rhode Island. Through its subsidiary, the company operates a network of branch offices across Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut, serving individuals, small businesses and municipalities with a full suite of financial services.

The company’s core business activities encompass retail and commercial banking, including checking and savings accounts, consumer and commercial loans, mortgage financing, and cash management solutions.