Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) Receives $34.50 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the four research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $35.50.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Seaport Research Partners cut Washington Trust Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rolando A. Lora sold 885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.55, for a total transaction of $27,921.75. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,292 shares in the company, valued at $356,262.60. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Washington Trust Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WASH. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. increased its stake in Washington Trust Bancorp by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 26,527 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Washington Trust Bancorp by 35.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 103,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,458,000 after acquiring an additional 27,080 shares during the last quarter. Amundi purchased a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 556.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 57,329 shares in the last quarter. 65.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Washington Trust Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WASH opened at $38.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.71. Washington Trust Bancorp has a 1-year low of $25.23 and a 1-year high of $39.85. The firm has a market cap of $732.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Washington Trust Bancorp had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 14.50%.The firm had revenue of $60.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.91 million. Analysts anticipate that Washington Trust Bancorp will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. Washington Trust Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.78%.

Washington Trust Bancorp Company Profile

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.