Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires Shares of 1,034,483 Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,034,483 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $29,410,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned 2.41% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BHLB. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 623.8% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 516,603 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $14,687,000 after acquiring an additional 445,228 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,672,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,547 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $36,719,000 after purchasing an additional 222,162 shares during the last quarter. Glendon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,902,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 962.0% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 179,779 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $5,077,000 after buying an additional 162,850 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were 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 accessible through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Up 1.0 %

BHLB traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $25.08. 515,752 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 366,144. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40 and a beta of 0.58. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.76 and a 12 month high of $32.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.84.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $110.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.71 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's payout ratio is 29.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.13.

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.