Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $169.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 3.5 %

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $21.71 on Friday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $18.07 and a fifty-two week high of $25.79. The stock has a market cap of $943.52 million, a PE ratio of 43.42 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.03.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $223,542.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $223,542.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 51,910 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.18, for a total transaction of $1,307,093.80. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,665 shares in the company, valued at $67,104.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 224,788 shares of company stock worth $5,239,449. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth approximately $57,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 304.1% during the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,538 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $119,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.