Allianz Asset Management GmbH Grows Stock Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management GmbH significantly increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 153.6% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.07% of the firm's shares valued at $827,000.
• Several investors, including Adage Capital Partners and ExodusPoint Capital Management, have also recently increased their positions, bringing institutional ownership in the company to 83.07%.
• Analysts from the Royal Bank of Canada have set a $31.00 price target for Berkshire Hills Bancorp, with a recent EPS of $0.69 reported, exceeding expectations.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) by 153.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,700 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,200 shares during the quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned about 0.07% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $827,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP raised its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2,259.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,265 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 508.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,413 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 3,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $24.37. The company had a trading volume of 56,514 shares, compared to its average volume of 486,882. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $22.27 and a one year high of $32.36. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.52 and a beta of 0.66.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.11. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.45% and a net margin of 15.93%. The firm had revenue of $113.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.34 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.