Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $37.00 According to Analysts

Shares of Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the four ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.00.

Several research firms recently commented on WASH. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Washington Trust Bancorp news, Director Edwin Santos sold 1,200 shares of Washington Trust Bancorp stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.25, for a total transaction of $47,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 9,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $357,567.50. The trade was a 11.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Washington Trust Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp in the second quarter worth about $81,558,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,556,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $9,912,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,712,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,466,000. Institutional investors own 65.81% of the company’s stock.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of WASH opened at $39.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.70. Washington Trust Bancorp has a twelve month low of $26.52 and a twelve month high of $40.54. The company has a market cap of $747.35 million, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.73.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $64.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.62 million. Washington Trust Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.67% and a net margin of 16.73%. As a group, analysts expect that Washington Trust Bancorp will post 3.34 EPS for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 1st. Washington Trust Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.27%.

About Washington Trust Bancorp

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc is the holding company for The Washington Trust Company, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Westerly, Rhode Island. Founded in 1800, Washington Trust is one of the oldest continuously operating banks in the United States.

The company provides commercial, small-business, residential mortgage and consumer banking services. Its offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer loans, residential mortgages, cash-management services, online and mobile banking, and other financial services for individuals, families and businesses.

Washington Trust also operates a wealth-management business that provides investment management, financial planning, trust administration, estate planning and related services.