Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,754 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,119,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,455,000 after buying an additional 18,307 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% during the third 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 buying an additional 293,784 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,654,000 after buying an additional 114,433 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 340,694 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,175,000 after buying an additional 75,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,672,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Down 1.4 %

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $28.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.50 and a beta of 0.88. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.50 and a 1 year high of $32.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.34.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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, research analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BHLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 31st. Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.