EJF Capital LLC Buys Shares of 181,183 Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. $BHLB

Key Points

• EJF Capital LLC has invested approximately $4.73 million to acquire a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, acquiring 181,183 shares, which now makes up about 3.0% of its total holdings.
• The company recently reported an EPS of $0.69, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.58, while revenue increased by 4.6% year-over-year to $113.67 million.
• Berkshire Hills Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18, leading to an annualized dividend yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 28.13%.

EJF Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 181,183 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $4,727,000. Berkshire Hills Bancorp accounts for approximately 3.0% of EJF Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. EJF Capital LLC owned about 0.39% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BHLB. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $485,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 54,795 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,558,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth about $237,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 263,234 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $7,484,000 after buying an additional 9,175 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 42,427 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $1,206,000 after buying an additional 5,356 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of BHLB traded down $0.65 on Monday, hitting $25.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,575,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,286. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $25.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.51. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.27 and a fifty-two week high of $32.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's payout ratio is presently 28.13%.

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.