Swiss National Bank Cuts Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. $BHLB

Swiss National Bank trimmed its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 83,300 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.18% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $2,173,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,410,000. Bayview Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,330,000. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 134.6% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 530,489 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $13,840,000 after buying an additional 304,376 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 79.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 537,221 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,273,000 after buying an additional 237,607 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 83.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 429,887 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $11,216,000 after buying an additional 195,222 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BHLB opened at $26.66 on Friday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.27 and a fifty-two week high of $32.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $25.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.66.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.11. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 15.93%.The firm had revenue of $113.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.34 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $32.75.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp 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.