Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Makes New Investment in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 11,058 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $298,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BHLB. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,426,599 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $35,422,000 after acquiring an additional 43,822 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,330,000. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 116.2% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 680,903 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,606,000 after purchasing an additional 365,952 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 97,420 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $2,233,000 after buying an additional 10,903 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on BHLB shares. Janney Montgomery Scott cut 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.80.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $28.04 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.73 and a 200-day moving average of $24.36. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.08 and a beta of 0.86. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.31 and a 1 year high of $28.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $174.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $108.46 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 3.37% and a return on equity of 8.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 144.00%.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp 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.