By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 882,900 shares, a growth of 12.7% from the November 30th total of 783,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 325,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,664,138 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $44,815,000 after purchasing an additional 293,784 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $9,636,000 after buying an additional 159,200 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 126.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 183,616 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 102,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 340,694 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,175,000 after purchasing an additional 75,476 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance
NYSE BHLB traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $28.43. 433,537 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 278,941. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.93 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1 year low of $20.50 and a 1 year high of $32.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.07.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.53%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.70.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Berkshire Hills Bancorp
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.
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