Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three 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 company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, 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 Friday, January 31st.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BHLB opened at $28.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $32.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.24.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the company’s 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,410,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 623.8% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 516,603 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,687,000 after acquiring an additional 445,228 shares during the period. Bayview Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $9,330,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,664,138 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,815,000 after acquiring an additional 293,784 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 79.3% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 537,221 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $15,273,000 after purchasing an additional 237,607 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.