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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.70.

Several equities analysts recently commented on BHLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of 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 lowered their price objective on 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. 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. Finally, 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.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.30. The stock had a trading volume of 297,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,466. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79 and a beta of 0.88. The company's 50-day moving average is $29.45 and its 200 day moving average is $26.93. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12-month low of $20.50 and a 12-month high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 EPS 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. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHLB. 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 valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $676,000. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 33.5% in 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 during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 6.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 624,192 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $14,232,000 after purchasing an additional 38,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

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.