Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Separately, Piper Sandler raised Washington Trust Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Washington Trust Bancorp Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:WASH opened at $31.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $597.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $35.30 and a 200-day moving average of $32.16. Washington Trust Bancorp has a one year low of $24.11 and a one year high of $40.59.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $103.86 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.32 million. Washington Trust Bancorp had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 9.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Washington Trust Bancorp will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.22%. Washington Trust Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 83.90%.

Institutional Trading of Washington Trust Bancorp

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Washington Trust Bancorp by 7.7% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 826,057 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $22,642,000 after acquiring an additional 59,115 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth $1,529,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Washington Trust Bancorp by 16.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 282,925 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,755,000 after purchasing an additional 40,122 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 56.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 108,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,979,000 after purchasing an additional 39,268 shares during the period. Finally, Zacks Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,258,000. Institutional investors own 65.81% of the company’s stock.

Washington Trust Bancorp Company Profile

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for The Washington Trust Company, of Westerly that provides various banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. The company operates in two segments, Commercial Banking and Wealth Management Services. The Commercial Banking segment offers deposit accounts, including interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing demand deposits, NOW and savings accounts, money market and retirement deposit accounts, and time deposits; various commercial and retail lending products, such as commercial real estate loans, including commercial mortgages, and construction and development loans; commercial and industrial loans comprising working capital, equipment financing, and financing for other business-related purposes; residential real estate loans that consist of mortgage and homeowner construction loans; and consumer loans comprising home equity loans and lines of credit, personal installment loans, and loans to individuals secured by general aviation aircraft.