Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) by 71.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 50,033 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,863 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned about 0.12% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2,259.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,265 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $26.59. 740,567 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 381,576. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.76 and a 12 month high of $32.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.16 and a 200 day moving average of $27.70.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Berkshire Hills Bancorp currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company Profile

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.