Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Share Price Passes Below 50-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

by · The Markets Daily

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB – Get Free Report) passed below its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.56 and traded as low as $27.55. Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares last traded at $27.86, with a volume of 354,557 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BHLB has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.13.

View Our Latest Research Report on Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.31. 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 company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72 and a beta of 0.89.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.61 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 75.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake 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 valued at $60,024,000 after buying an additional 36,521 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 18,307 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 21.4% in the third 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 during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% in the third quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $25,654,000 after purchasing an additional 114,433 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $14,232,000 after purchasing an additional 38,327 shares during the period. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Berkshire Hills Bancorp

(Get Free Report)

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.

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