Fourthstone LLC Purchases Shares of 155,171 Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Fourthstone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 155,171 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $4,412,000. Berkshire Hills Bancorp accounts for about 0.9% of Fourthstone LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Fourthstone LLC owned 0.36% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BHLB. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 623.8% in the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 516,603 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $14,687,000 after purchasing an additional 445,228 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,672,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,547 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $36,719,000 after buying an additional 222,162 shares during the last quarter. Glendon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $4,902,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $3,769,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 2.4 %

BHLB stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.90. 75,744 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 355,942. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.76 and a 1 year high of $32.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 0.58.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on BHLB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.02% of the company's stock.

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.