D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Reduces Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) by 77.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,240 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 85,102 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned about 0.06% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC grew 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 worth $2,595,000 after purchasing an additional 49,356 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC bought a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $204,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 144,832 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $4,118,000 after acquiring an additional 7,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 129,923 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $3,694,000 after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BHLB traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $25.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 365,911 shares, compared to its average volume of 386,793. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company's 50-day moving average is $24.99 and its 200-day moving average is $27.48. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.76 and a 52-week high of $32.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 0.53.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $110.44 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.15%.

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.