Legal & General Group Plc Buys Shares of 13,885 Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. $WASH

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 13,885 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $507,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $10,556,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $166,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $245,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $1,344,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp during the second quarter valued at about $50,000. 65.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WASH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Washington Trust Bancorp from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seaport Research Partners cut Washington Trust Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.50.

Washington Trust Bancorp Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of WASH opened at $39.78 on Wednesday. Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.23 and a 52-week high of $40.54. The company has a market cap of $758.60 million, a PE ratio of 13.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.44 and a 200 day moving average of $35.22.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.06. Washington Trust Bancorp had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $60.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $59.91 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 1st were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 1st. Washington Trust Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 77.78%.

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.