Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BHLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

BHLB stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Thursday, hitting $28.32. The company had a trading volume of 71,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 359,882. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.36. 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 $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.31 and a 200 day moving average of $27.72.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC increased its position 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 valued at $57,455,000 after purchasing an additional 18,307 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $25,654,000 after purchasing an additional 114,433 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 190,673 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $5,135,000 after purchasing an additional 72,402 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.