Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $1.37 Million Holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,309 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 14,201 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $1,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BHLB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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 research report on Monday, April 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of NYSE:BHLB opened at $25.28 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 0.53. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.76 and a 1 year high of $32.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $25.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.67.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $110.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.71 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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