Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.80.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BHLB shares. Hovde Group raised their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

BHLB opened at $26.75 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.90. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52-week low of $18.31 and a 52-week high of $28.51. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.50 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 8.61%. The firm had revenue of $174.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.46 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 20th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at $146,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $219,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Berkshire Hills Bancorp

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.