Squarepoint Ops LLC Lowers Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Squarepoint Ops LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 50.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,131 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 7,363 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BHLB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% during the 4th 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. lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2,259.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,265 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB stock opened at $25.00 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $24.80 and its 200 day moving average is $27.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36 and a beta of 0.62. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.76 and a twelve month high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $110.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.71 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, 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 Monday, April 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.