Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 9.48%. The company had revenue of $169.32 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $21.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 326,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 241,284. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $21.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.19. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12 month low of $18.07 and a 12 month high of $25.79. The company has a market capitalization of $943.52 million, a PE ratio of 13.57 and a beta of 0.87.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BHLB. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $24.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $223,542.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $223,542.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 20,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.02, for a total transaction of $451,410.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 87,947 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,936,592.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 224,788 shares of company stock worth $5,239,449. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 1st quarter valued at about $57,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 304.1% in the 1st quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,538 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,910 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at about $119,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.