Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Short Interest Up 5.6% in October

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, a growth of 5.6% from the September 30th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 276,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.50. The company had a trading volume of 91,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 254,212. The stock's 50-day moving average is $26.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.98 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52 week low of $19.38 and a 52 week high of $28.51.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 144.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on BHLB. StockNews.com upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Hovde Group raised their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.80.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 1.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 36,521 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 116.2% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 680,903 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $15,606,000 after acquiring an additional 365,952 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 6.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 624,192 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $14,232,000 after acquiring an additional 38,327 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 422,621 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $9,636,000 after purchasing an additional 159,200 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,330,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.