Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a sector perform rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research report on Friday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BHLB opened at $22.37 on Thursday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1 year low of $18.31 and a 1 year high of $25.79. The firm has a market cap of $968.40 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.74 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.64.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $169.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $107.89 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.77% and a net margin of 3.40%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 20th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $223,542.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the first quarter valued at approximately $146,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,752 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth $202,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter worth $219,000. Finally, Teton Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at $240,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

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.