Will Washington Trust Bancorp (WASH) be Able to Compete with Larger Players?

Third Avenue Management, an investment management company based in New York City, released its “Small-Cap Value Fund” second quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Unlike the volatile first quarter, there was a methodological increase in returns in the second quarter. The fund returned 2.98% in Q2 compared to a 3.18% return for the Russell 2000 Value Index. For the first half of 2023, the fund returned 7.27% compared to 2.50% for the benchmark. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2023.

Third Avenue Small-Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) in the second quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Westerly, Rhode Island, Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) is a bank holding company for The Washington Trust Company. On July 31, 2023, Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) stock closed at $32.06 per share. One-month return of Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) was 15.91%, and its shares lost 41.17% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) has a market capitalization of $531.418 million.

Third Avenue Small-Cap Value Fund made the following comment about Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:

“The other two material laggards were banks, Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) and Southside Bancshares. Both banks are small (less than $10B in total assets) so should avoid many of the potential regulatory changes that larger banks will likely face. On the other hand, investors are worried about their ability to compete against larger players in a changing environment. As highlighted last quarter, these companies have endured many other cycles and we remain optimistic their strong balance sheets, pristine credit history and long-term oriented corporate cultures will help them manage through current uncertainties.”

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Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 7 hedge fund portfolios held Washington Trust Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:WASH) at the end of first quarter which was 8 in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.