Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) by 15.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 0.16% of Washington Trust Bancorp worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WASH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 31.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 135,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,179,000 after buying an additional 32,088 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 4,346.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $536,000 after acquiring an additional 16,169 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $369,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 16,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Washington Trust Bancorp by 3,240.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 226,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,096,000 after purchasing an additional 219,578 shares during the last quarter. 65.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WASH. Piper Sandler lowered Washington Trust Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Washington Trust Bancorp from $34.00 to $31.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Washington Trust Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

Washington Trust Bancorp Stock Up 0.1%

WASH opened at $26.94 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $519.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.84, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.95 and a fifty-two week high of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $54.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.07 million. Washington Trust Bancorp had a positive return on equity of 9.14% and a negative net margin of 6.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st were given a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.3%. Washington Trust Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -148.34%.

Washington Trust Bancorp 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.