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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three 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 company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

BHLB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target 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. 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.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

BHLB stock opened at $28.17 on Thursday. 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 29.65 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.72. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 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 Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.79%.

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.