Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.80.

A number of analysts have commented on BHLB shares. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Down 3.1 %

NYSE:BHLB opened at $26.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.18 and a beta of 0.86. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1 year low of $18.31 and a 1 year high of $28.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $174.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $108.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 144.00%.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BHLB. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted 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 valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $146,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 47.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,858 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.