Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Stock Passes Below Fifty Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) crossed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.56 and traded as low as $27.55. Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares last traded at $27.86, with a volume of 354,557 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BHLB. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.70.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $29.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the second quarter worth $676,000. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,903 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,138,000 after buying an additional 12,528 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 624,192 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $14,232,000 after acquiring an additional 38,327 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,632,671 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $60,024,000 after acquiring an additional 36,521 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company 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.