Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) to Issue $0.56 Quarterly Dividend

Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.56 per share by the financial services provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.28%.

Washington Trust Bancorp has increased its dividend payment by an average of 3.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 13 years. Washington Trust Bancorp has a payout ratio of 81.5% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Equities analysts expect Washington Trust Bancorp to earn $2.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 86.2%.

Washington Trust Bancorp Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:WASH traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $30.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 489,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 107,458. Washington Trust Bancorp has a 1 year low of $24.11 and a 1 year high of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $524.92 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Washington Trust Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

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.