Barclays PLC Has $2.60 Million Stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Barclays PLC increased its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 105.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 96,380 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,356 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised 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 valued at $44,815,000 after purchasing an additional 293,784 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% in the second 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 last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake 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 worth $25,654,000 after acquiring an additional 114,433 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 126.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 183,616 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $4,186,000 after acquiring an additional 102,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 75,476 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

NYSE BHLB opened at $28.66 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $29.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.81. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $32.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.17 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.70.

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.