Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.48% and a net margin of 11.24%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.63 earnings per share.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB stock opened at $20.98 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.93 and its 200-day moving average is $22.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $911.79 million, a PE ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.87. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52 week low of $18.07 and a 52 week high of $25.79.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 45.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BHLB. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 26th. StockNews.com cut Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Insider Transactions at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In other news, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 20,028 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $495,292.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 288,483 shares in the company, valued at $7,134,184.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 20,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $495,292.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 288,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,134,184.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $223,542.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 224,788 shares of company stock worth $5,239,449. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHLB. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 22.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 8,833 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,617 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 16.2% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,357 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 47,577 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 14.9% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,862 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 66.2% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 31,848 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 12,684 shares during the period. 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.