Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WASH. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research upgraded Washington Trust Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $32.00 target price on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.33.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Down 4.0%

Washington Trust Bancorp stock opened at $33.69 on Friday. Washington Trust Bancorp has a 12 month low of $24.95 and a 12 month high of $37.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $641.46 million, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.01.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.08. Washington Trust Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.75% and a net margin of 13.26%.The business had revenue of $59.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $56.38 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Washington Trust Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Washington Trust Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WASH. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the third quarter worth $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Washington Trust Bancorp by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.81% of the company’s stock.

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.