Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Stock

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised the price target for Washington Trust Bancorp from $29.00 to $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.89% from the current price.
• Washington Trust Bancorp reported earnings of $0.56 per share for the last quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.46.
• Institutional investors hold 65.81% of Washington Trust Bancorp's stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like Bank of New York Mellon Corp and Invesco Ltd.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' target price suggests a potential upside of 8.89% from the company's current price.

WASH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.33.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Up 2.6%

WASH stock opened at $27.55 on Wednesday. Washington Trust Bancorp has a 1-year low of $24.95 and a 1-year high of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $527.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.33, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.27.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 20th. The financial services provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.10. Washington Trust Bancorp had a positive return on equity of 8.97% and a negative net margin of 6.22%.The business had revenue of $56.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $56.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Washington Trust Bancorp will post 2.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Washington Trust Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 worth $4,179,000 after buying an additional 32,088 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 39.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 295,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $9,118,000 after purchasing an additional 83,311 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp during the first quarter worth $725,000. 65.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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