Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Receives $31.13 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.13.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BHLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE BHLB opened at $26.32 on Friday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1 year low of $20.50 and a 1 year high of $32.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.22 and its 200-day moving average is $28.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27 and a beta of 0.85.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Equities analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 50.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total transaction of $31,528.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,380 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,595,000 after buying an additional 49,356 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,119,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,455,000 after purchasing an additional 18,307 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 61.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 190,673 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after purchasing an additional 72,402 shares in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $25,654,000 after purchasing an additional 114,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.