Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 20,863 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,033 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,863 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BHLB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2,259.4% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,265 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:BHLB opened at $26.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.61 and a beta of 0.53. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.76 and a 1-year high of $32.36. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $25.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $110.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.71 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

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.