Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB)

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $31.00 target price on the savings and loans company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 4.50% from the stock’s previous close.

BHLB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE:BHLB traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $29.67. 106,145 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 389,616. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 0.89.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. Equities analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BHLB. Barclays PLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 49,356 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,119,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $57,455,000 after buying an additional 18,307 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,654,000 after buying an additional 114,433 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 61.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 190,673 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $5,135,000 after acquiring an additional 72,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,672,000. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Berkshire Hills Bancorp

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.