Short Interest in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Grows By 5.6%

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the September 30th total of 1,080,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 276,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BHLB opened at $27.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12-month low of $20.02 and a 12-month high of $28.51.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on BHLB shares. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.