Northern Trust Corp Decreases Stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Northern Trust Corp lowered its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 503,183 shares of the savings and loans company's stock after selling 48,768 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.17% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $14,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings 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 worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings 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 worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company's stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BHLB opened at $26.78 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $25.15 and a 200 day moving average of $27.70. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $20.76 and a one 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 0.53.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the company posted $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, 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 will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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 report on Monday, April 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

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