Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.70.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BHLB. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 1.0 %

BHLB stock opened at $28.22 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.71 and a beta of 0.89. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last released its 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. The business had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% during the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company 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.