Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 11.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 226,935 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,454 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $5,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 13,241 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 34,290 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $895,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 10,423 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,917 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 16,543 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BHLB opened at $26.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.58 and a beta of 0.61. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.27 and a 1 year high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $110.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.71 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 15.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 29.15%.

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.