Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BHLB. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on 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.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB opened at $25.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.90 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.37 and a 200-day moving average of $28.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.56%. As a group, analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Insider Activity at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total transaction of $31,528.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 137,820 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $3,711,000 after acquiring an additional 6,968 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 37,071 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $998,000 after purchasing an additional 10,022 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.2% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 13,423 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 1,565 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.