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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Up 2.2 %

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $20.98 on Friday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12-month low of $18.07 and a 12-month high of $25.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $911.79 million, a PE ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 20,028 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total transaction of $495,292.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 288,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,134,184.59. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 20,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.73, for a total value of $495,292.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 288,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,184.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $223,542.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 224,788 shares of company stock valued at $5,239,449 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the first quarter worth $35,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 1st quarter worth about $57,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 304.1% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,538 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $119,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHLB has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 report on Tuesday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.00.

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.