Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 518 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,950 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 518 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $1,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 96,380 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,595,000 after buying an additional 49,356 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $57,455,000 after acquiring an additional 18,307 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $25,654,000 after purchasing an additional 114,433 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 159,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of BHLB stock opened at $28.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.45 and a 200-day moving average of $26.88. The company has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.79 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $125.70 million during 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 company posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid 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 2.54%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BHLB has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded 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 increased their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.