Washington Trust Bancorp (WASH) Competitors

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida (NASDAQ:SBCF) and Washington Trust Bancorp (NASDAQ:WASH) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, media sentiment, dividends, community ranking, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, SBCF or WASH?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a beta of 1.09, meaning that its stock price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Washington Trust Bancorp has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend SBCF or WASH?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida currently has a consensus price target of $30.00, suggesting a potential upside of 17.97%. Washington Trust Bancorp has a consensus price target of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 15.49%. Given Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida is more favorable than Washington Trust Bancorp.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40
Washington Trust Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the media favor SBCF or WASH?

In the previous week, Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida had 1 more articles in the media than Washington Trust Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida and 3 mentions for Washington Trust Bancorp. Washington Trust Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.59 beat Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida's score of 1.49 indicating that Washington Trust Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Washington Trust Bancorp	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, SBCF or WASH?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has higher revenue and earnings than Washington Trust Bancorp. Washington Trust Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	$515.40M	4.22	$120.99M	$1.43	17.78
Washington Trust Bancorp	$98.55M	5.76	-$28.06M	-$1.55	-18.99

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in SBCF or WASH?

81.8% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 65.8% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Washington Trust Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is SBCF or WASH more profitable?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida has a net margin of 14.95% compared to Washington Trust Bancorp's net margin of -6.90%. Washington Trust Bancorp's return on equity of 8.99% beat Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	14.95%	5.91%	0.85%
Washington Trust Bancorp	-6.90%	8.99%	0.60%

Is SBCF or WASH a better dividend stock?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Washington Trust Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.6%. Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida pays out 50.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Washington Trust Bancorp pays out -144.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Washington Trust Bancorp is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SBCF or WASH?

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida received 113 more outperform votes than Washington Trust Bancorp when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.64% of users gave Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida an outperform vote while only 52.23% of users gave Washington Trust Bancorp an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida	Outperform Votes 300 59.64%	Underperform Votes 203 40.36%
Washington Trust Bancorp	Outperform Votes 187 52.23%	Underperform Votes 171 47.77%

Summary

Seacoast Banking Co. of Florida beats Washington Trust Bancorp on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.