Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $31.80 and last traded at $31.62, with a volume of 12387 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.80.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 33.17 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.22 and a 200 day moving average of $25.11.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 77.5% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,698 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 9,472 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the first quarter worth about $293,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 12.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 97,420 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after buying an additional 10,903 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 52.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 19,209 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 6,620 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is currently 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.