Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) shares saw strong trading volume on Monday . 136,617 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 34% from the previous session’s volume of 102,277 shares.The stock last traded at $34.59 and had previously closed at $35.03.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler raised Washington Trust Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.62. The stock has a market cap of $594.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.79.

Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $103.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.32 million. Washington Trust Bancorp had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 9.55%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.49 EPS for the current year.

Washington Trust Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.43%. Washington Trust Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.90%.

Institutional Trading of Washington Trust Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WASH. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $232,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 149,354 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,094,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Washington Trust Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Washington Trust Bancorp by 24.8% during the second quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 89,804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 17,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.81% of the company’s stock.

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.