Brokerages Set Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) PT at $31.13

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.13.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

BHLB stock traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.41. 30,893 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 370,990. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52-week low of $20.76 and a 52-week 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 company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65 and a beta of 0.53. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $25.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.75.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $110.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In related news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the business'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 value of $31,528.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 105.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,380 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $2,595,000 after purchasing an additional 49,356 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $6,672,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Plimoth Trust Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.