Nitin J. Mhatre Buys 1,100 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Stock

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) CEO Nitin J. Mhatre purchased 1,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 25th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $22.02 per share, for a total transaction of $24,222.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 88,799 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,955,353.98. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

BHLB traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.08. 172,663 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 240,423. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.07 and a 52 week high of $25.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $959.60 million, a PE ratio of 44.20 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $21.88 and its 200 day moving average is $22.25.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 8.77%. The firm had revenue of $169.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.89 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 144.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Teton Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Berkshire Bank boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 12,584 shares of the savings and loans company's stock valued at $252,000 after acquiring an additional 1,691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $258,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% 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.