Brokerages Set Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Target Price at $29.70

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.70.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE:BHLB opened at $27.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $29.52 and its 200 day moving average is $27.08. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.36. The company has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The business had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the second quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $211,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.