Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Seaport Res Ptn

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) was upgraded by stock analysts at Seaport Res Ptn from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.53 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.56 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $2.48 EPS.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BHLB. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.20.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BHLB opened at $29.13 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,664,138 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,815,000 after purchasing an additional 293,784 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 422,621 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,636,000 after buying an additional 159,200 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,654,000 after buying an additional 114,433 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 126.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 183,616 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,186,000 after buying an additional 102,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 340,694 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,175,000 after acquiring an additional 75,476 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company Profile

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Berkshire Bank that provides various banking products and services in the United States. The company provides various deposit accounts, including demand deposit, interest-bearing checking, regular savings, money market savings, time certificates of deposit, and retirement deposit accounts.