Jacobs Asset Management LLC Takes Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Jacobs Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 137,931 shares of the savings and loans company's stock, valued at approximately $3,921,000. Berkshire Hills Bancorp comprises approximately 2.4% of Jacobs Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Jacobs Asset Management LLC owned about 0.32% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,291 shares of the savings and loans company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% during 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 period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position 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 valued at $64,000 after buying 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 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four equities 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of BHLB stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $26.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 740,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,635. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $25.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.70. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $109.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.15%.

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.