Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Shares Acquired by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,291,547 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 222,162 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $36,719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $415,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,119,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,455,000 after acquiring an additional 18,307 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,058 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 2,268 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,380 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,595,000 after purchasing an additional 49,356 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 61.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 190,673 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $5,135,000 after purchasing an additional 72,402 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

BHLB stock opened at $23.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.97. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Profile

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.