Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Short Interest Update

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) saw a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a growth of 84.6% from the December 31st total of 882,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 348,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days. Approximately 3.6% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BHLB shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective 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. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BHLB traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.34. The stock had a trading volume of 599,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 363,036. The firm has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.88 and a beta of 0.89. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.06 and a 200-day moving average of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. Equities research analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BHLB. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 22,799 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.