Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 195,222 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 83.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 429,887 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after purchasing an additional 195,222 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $11,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 142.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 805.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in 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 worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth about $216,000. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE BHLB opened at $24.49 on Friday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.76 and a 52 week high of $32.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.04.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $110.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s 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.