Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Receives $31.13 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

BHLB opened at $22.98 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1 year low of $20.50 and a 1 year high of $32.36. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total transaction of $31,528.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2,259.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,265 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.