Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Price Target to $31.00

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) had its price target reduced by Royal Bank of Canada from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the savings and loans company’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.20.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BHLB opened at $27.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.26 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.59. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 105.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,380 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,595,000 after acquiring an additional 49,356 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 36,058 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,268 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,664,138 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $44,815,000 after purchasing an additional 293,784 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,119,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,455,000 after purchasing an additional 18,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $25,654,000 after buying an additional 114,433 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.