Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on BHLB. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Berkshire Hills Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BHLB opened at $22.37 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a one year low of $18.31 and a one year high of $25.79. The company has a market capitalization of $968.40 million, a P/E ratio of 44.74 and a beta of 0.87.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.89 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 3.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio 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 stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHLB. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $146,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, Teton Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.