Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 882,900 shares, a growth of 12.7% from the November 30th total of 783,200 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 325,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BHLB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on 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. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.70.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHLB. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the second quarter valued at about $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:BHLB traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.43. The stock had a trading volume of 433,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,941. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.51 and its 200 day moving average is $27.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.79%.

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.