Raymond James & Associates Buys 541 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,843 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BHLB. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Berkshire Bank raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 15.5% in the third quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 12,584 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $350,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 18,636 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 21,754 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 51,910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total value of $1,307,093.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,104.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $223,542.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 51,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total value of $1,307,093.80. Following the sale, the director now owns 2,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,104.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 224,788 shares of company stock worth $5,239,449. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE BHLB opened at $22.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $959.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.16 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.25. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.07 and a 52-week high of $25.79.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $169.32 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.89 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 8.77%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.00%.

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.