Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Purchases 1,151,107 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. $BHLB

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 166.4% during the 1st quarter, owning approximately 3.97% of the company at a valuation of $48 million.
• Berkshire Hills Bancorp reported EPS of $0.69 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and showing a 4.6% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.9%, with a payout ratio of 28.13%.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) by 166.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,842,975 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,151,107 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned about 3.97% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $48,083,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,410,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 1st quarter valued at $17,966,000. Bayview Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at $9,330,000. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 134.6% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 530,489 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $13,840,000 after buying an additional 304,376 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 79.3% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 537,221 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $15,273,000 after acquiring an additional 237,607 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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 report on Monday, April 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $32.75.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 4.9%

BHLB traded up $1.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.66. The company had a trading volume of 696,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 482,024. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $25.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.84. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $22.27 and a one year high of $32.36.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders 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 2.7%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.13%.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp 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.