Federated Hermes Inc. Buys New Shares in Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH)

Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $53,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 31.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 135,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,179,000 after buying an additional 32,088 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 4,346.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 16,169 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC boosted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 41.0% during the first quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 85,574 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 24,880 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Washington Trust Bancorp by 15.0% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $369,000. 65.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Piper Sandler cut shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $28.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Washington Trust Bancorp stock opened at $27.56 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.01 and a 200-day moving average of $29.21. The stock has a market cap of $528.05 million, a PE ratio of -18.25, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.91. Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.95 and a 52-week high of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $54.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.07 million. Washington Trust Bancorp had a negative net margin of 6.10% and a positive return on equity of 9.05%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.76 EPS for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Announces Dividend

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 $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. Washington Trust Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently -148.34%.

About Washington Trust Bancorp

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.