Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

BHLB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $28.07 on Monday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a one year low of $20.50 and a one year high of $32.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.19. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 0.88.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.56%. As a group, analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,410,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 623.8% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 516,603 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,687,000 after purchasing an additional 445,228 shares during the period. Bayview Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $9,330,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 537,221 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $15,273,000 after buying an additional 237,607 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

About Berkshire Hills Bancorp

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.