Short Interest in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Declines By 7.5%

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 783,200 shares, a decline of 7.5% from the November 15th total of 846,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 268,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the second quarter valued at $6,330,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 47.0% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,858 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at about $676,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.3% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 38,821 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $885,000 after acquiring an additional 14,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 33.5% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 49,903 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 12,528 shares in the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.20.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Down 2.5 %

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $29.13 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.52. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1-year low of $20.50 and a 1-year high of $32.36. The company has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 30.66 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 8.68%. The business had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

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 $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 75.79%.

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.