Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Invests $1.57 Million in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 55,290 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,572,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BHLB. State Street Corp increased its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,119,475 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $57,455,000 after purchasing an additional 18,307 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,664,138 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $44,815,000 after buying an additional 293,784 shares during the last quarter. 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 423,307 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,035,000 after acquiring an additional 15,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 340,694 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $9,175,000 after acquiring an additional 75,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In related news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on BHLB. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE BHLB opened at $26.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $1.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.35. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.50 and a 1-year high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

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.