35,373 Shares in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Bought by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 35,373 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $1,006,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2,259.4% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,265 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of BHLB stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.59. The company had a trading volume of 740,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,576. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $25.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.53. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.76 and a 52 week high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. 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 return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $110.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders 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 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Monday, April 28th. Four 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.13.

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.