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

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,632,671 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $60,024,000 after acquiring an additional 36,521 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $409,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 99,677 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,273,000 after purchasing an additional 2,257 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 93,532 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,133,000 after buying an additional 5,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $412,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

BHLB stock opened at $28.17 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.31 and a 200-day moving average of $27.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.65 and a beta of 0.89. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp 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 issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 75.79%.

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.