Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Share Price Passes Below 50-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.56 and traded as low as $27.55. Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares last traded at $27.86, with a volume of 354,557 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BHLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded 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 upped their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.70.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHLB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position 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 worth $44,815,000 after acquiring an additional 293,784 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 422,621 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,636,000 after purchasing an additional 159,200 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 114,433 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 126.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 183,616 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 102,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 75,476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company 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.