Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 1,565 Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 13.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,423 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $361,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the second quarter worth $6,330,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $9,636,000 after purchasing an additional 159,200 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 102,384 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 6.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 624,192 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $14,232,000 after buying an additional 38,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,632,671 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $60,024,000 after buying an additional 36,521 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE:BHLB opened at $30.75 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $28.74 and its 200 day moving average is $26.18. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.36. The company has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 75.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.20.

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.