Grace & White Inc. NY Boosts Stock Holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Grace & White Inc. NY increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,349 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the quarter. Grace & White Inc. NY owned 0.46% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $4,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 17.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,382,777 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $27,725,000 after purchasing an additional 201,948 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 15.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 397,579 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $7,971,000 after acquiring an additional 53,162 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 8.7% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 205,597 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,122,000 after acquiring an additional 16,440 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the third quarter worth approximately $719,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 1.0% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 208,947 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,189,000 after acquiring an additional 2,115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 through this hyperlink. In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were 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 through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 27,000 shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.43, for a total transaction of $605,610.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $265,907.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 224,788 shares of company stock worth $5,239,449. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB stock traded up $0.49 on Tuesday, hitting $22.25. 282,065 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 241,775. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $966.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.50 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.24. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.07 and a 52 week high of $25.79.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $169.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.89 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 8.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.24%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on BHLB. 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp 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.