Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Shares Sold by The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 5.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,476 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 1,323 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $578,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the second quarter worth approximately $6,330,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 47.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,858 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $676,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.3% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 38,821 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 14,149 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 33.5% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,903 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 12,528 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BHLB stock opened at $30.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79 and a beta of 0.88. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The business had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.20.

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.