Washington Trust Bancorp's Surge Doesn't Justify An Upgrade

2026-02-06 11:08:41 ET

I have been investing now for 18 years, 13 of which have been in a professional capacity. In my expert opinion, value investing is the best way to go. Having said that, there are certain downsides to being a value investor. Perhaps the most problematic is the fact that being overly conservative often results in missed opportunities. Long ago, I concluded that I would rather be wrong and miss out on the upside than be wrong and experience the downside. But that doesn't mean it doesn't sting when the market moves in a way that I don't expect. A great example of this can be seen by looking at Washington Trust Bancorp ( WASH ), a relatively small bank with a market capitalization of $654.2 million as of this writing. Back in October of last year, I made the decision to upgrade the stock from a “Sell” to a “Hold.” This was based on improving fundamentals and deposits that were showing signs of stabilizing....

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