Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Shares Pass Above 50-Day Moving Average of $25.28

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)’s share price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.28 and traded as high as $27.71. Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares last traded at $27.48, with a volume of 245,140 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.80.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 55.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.41 and its 200-day moving average is $23.18.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 3.37%. The company had revenue of $174.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 144.00%.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHLB. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 2nd quarter worth $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the first quarter valued at $146,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 7.4% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth about $219,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.