Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Shares Purchased by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 28.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 243,995 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 53,322 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.57% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $6,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BHLB. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $256,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 625,824 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,694 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $595,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.6% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 22,650 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 8,549 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 141,775 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after buying an additional 14,750 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total transaction of $31,528.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $23.47 on Thursday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $32.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.47 and a 200-day moving average of $27.97.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. On average, analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BHLB. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.13.

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.