Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,981 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 10,791 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.46% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $5,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the second quarter worth $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the third quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

BHLB stock opened at $28.43 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.51 and a 200 day moving average of $27.08. 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 has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93 and a beta of 0.88. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.50 and a 1 year high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.70.

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.