Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

WASH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research cut Washington Trust Bancorp from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Washington Trust Bancorp from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Washington Trust Bancorp in a research note on Monday, March 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Washington Trust Bancorp from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.33.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ WASH opened at $31.63 on Friday. Washington Trust Bancorp has a twelve month low of $25.23 and a twelve month high of $37.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $602.24 million, a PE ratio of 11.59, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.81.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.11). Washington Trust Bancorp had a net margin of 13.71% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm had revenue of $98.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.24 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Washington Trust Bancorp will post 3.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. Washington Trust Bancorp’s payout ratio is 82.05%.

Insider Transactions at Washington Trust Bancorp

In other Washington Trust Bancorp news, EVP James Cannon Brown purchased 32,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $31.17 per share, with a total value of $997,440.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 37,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,162,017.60. This represents a 606.06% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Washington Trust Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WASH. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Washington Trust Bancorp by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Washington Trust Bancorp by 367.2% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,869 shares during the last quarter. 65.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.