Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 22,900 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 181.7% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 22,900 shares, bringing its total shares to 35,500, valued at approximately $926,000.
• The company recently reported $0.69 earnings per share, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.11, and its revenue increased by 4.6% year-over-year.
• Berkshire Hills Bancorp announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, representing a 3.0% dividend yield, with the next payment scheduled for August 21st.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) by 181.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,500 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,900 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $926,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,410,000. Bayview Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,330,000. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 134.6% in the first quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 530,489 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $13,840,000 after purchasing an additional 304,376 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $15,273,000 after purchasing an additional 237,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,547 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $36,719,000 after purchasing an additional 222,162 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:BHLB traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.31. The company had a trading volume of 347,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 487,531. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.07. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.27 and a 52 week high of $32.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's payout ratio is 28.13%.

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.