UPDATE: Compass Point Initiates Coverage on Washington Trust Bancorp with Neutral Rating, $38 PT as Best of Breed But Fully Valued

In a report published Monday, Compass Point analyst Laurie Havener Hunsicker initiated coverage on Washington Trust Bancorp WASH with a Neutral rating and $38.00 price target. In the report, Compass Point noted, "We initiate with a Neutral rating and a price target (PT) of $38, representing 2.2x tangible book (TB) and 14x FY15E EPS. We introduce operating EPS for FY15E and FY16E of $2.66 and $2.77, respectively. WASH shares currently trade at a premium to its peers; a premium which we believe is warranted as WASH is a top performing, clean, community bank with $3.6 billion in assets and is a substantial fee generator with $5.1 billion of Wealth Assets Under Management (AUM). Additionally, while the market has seemingly lost focus on asset sensitivity, we note that WASH scorecards as one of the best relative to its New England community bank peers. While our EPS estimates through 2016 do not yet assume a rate move, we believe that WASH shares could appreciate further well in advance of the actual EPS ramp occurring if the asset-sensitivity buy-trade reemerges." Washington Trust Bancorp closed on Friday at $37.84.