Analysts Expect Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Will Announce Earnings of $0.46 Per Share

Equities analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB – Get Rating) will post $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Two analysts have provided estimates for Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s earnings. The lowest EPS estimate is $0.44 and the highest is $0.47. Berkshire Hills Bancorp reported earnings per share of $0.43 during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a positive year over year growth rate of 7%. The company is scheduled to announce its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will report full-year earnings of $1.83 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.80 to $1.86. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the company will post earnings of $2.02 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.99 to $2.05. Zacks’ earnings per share averages are an average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that that provide coverage for Berkshire Hills Bancorp.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 20th. The savings and loans company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 27.75%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on BHLB. Compass Point cut Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $29.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.20.

Shares of BHLB stock opened at $24.74 on Thursday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $22.04 and a fifty-two week high of $31.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 11th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 18.60%.

In related news, Director Jeffrey W. Kip acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $29.25 per share, with a total value of $292,500.00. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $128,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 63,153.5% in the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,541,487 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $41,589,000 after buying an additional 1,539,050 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 113,100 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,051,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,220,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 95,861 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,588,000 after buying an additional 9,011 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company Profile (Get Rating)

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Berkshire Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers various deposit accounts, including demand deposit, NOW, regular savings, money market savings, time certificates of deposit, and retirement deposit accounts; and loans, such as commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, consumer, and residential mortgage loans.

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