Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Short Interest Down 7.5% in November

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 783,200 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the November 15th total of 846,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 268,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.20.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% in the third quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at about $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BHLB traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.13. 1,795,018 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 268,090. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a twelve month low of $20.50 and a twelve 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

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.