Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the four analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $25.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BHLB. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Insider Activity

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 20,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $495,292.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 288,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,184.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $223,542.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 20,028 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $495,292.44. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 288,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,184.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 224,788 shares of company stock valued at $5,239,449 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,959 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 10.6% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 5,460 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,843 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.8% during the third quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 21,754 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $436,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 5.7% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 14,831 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 804 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BHLB opened at $20.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $891.36 million, a PE ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.20. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52-week low of $18.07 and a 52-week high of $25.79.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The savings and loans company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.02). Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $142.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.00%.

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.