Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler set a $32.00 target price on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Washington Trust Bancorp from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.33.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of WASH stock opened at $33.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $641.46 million, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.86. Washington Trust Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $24.95 and a fifty-two week high of $37.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.08. Washington Trust Bancorp had a net margin of 13.26% and a return on equity of 9.75%. The company had revenue of $59.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.38 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Washington Trust Bancorp will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Washington Trust Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $368,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Washington Trust Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $249,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $484,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $299,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.81% of the company’s stock.

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.