Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) released its earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 11.24%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of BHLB stock opened at $20.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $911.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $21.93 and a 200-day moving average of $22.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1-year low of $18.07 and a 1-year high of $25.79.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 45.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BHLB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com downgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $223,542.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $223,542.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 19,660 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.20, for a total value of $436,452.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 200,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,441,198.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 224,788 shares of company stock valued at $5,239,449. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 30,235 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $495,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 44.6% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 97,701 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,426,000 after purchasing an additional 30,127 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 63.6% during the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 88,974 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,209,000 after purchasing an additional 34,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 36,800 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.