Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Stock Price Passes Below 50 Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report)'s stock price 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 traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BHLB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. 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. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of 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 cut their target price 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.70.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Down 2.2 %

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

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHLB. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,664,138 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $44,815,000 after purchasing an additional 293,784 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 422,621 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $9,636,000 after buying an additional 159,200 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $25,654,000 after buying an additional 114,433 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 126.0% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 183,616 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 102,384 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 340,694 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $9,175,000 after buying an additional 75,476 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.