Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Given New $31.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) had its price target lowered by Royal Bank of Canada from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued to investors 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 increased their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.20.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

BHLB stock opened at $29.13 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.52. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 12-month low of $20.50 and a 12-month high of $32.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The company had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders 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 2.47%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Systematic Financial Management LP increased 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 valued at $25,654,000 after purchasing an additional 114,433 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 422,621 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,636,000 after buying an additional 159,200 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at about $623,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 178.9% during the 3rd quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 32,327 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $871,000 after buying an additional 20,736 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.