Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Short Interest Update

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 882,900 shares, a growth of 12.7% from the November 30th total of 783,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 325,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

NYSE BHLB traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $28.23. The stock had a trading volume of 243,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,325. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.72 and a beta of 0.88. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The business had revenue of $125.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp 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 given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 75.79%.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 293,784 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 60.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 952,627 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $25,654,000 after purchasing an additional 114,433 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 126.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 183,616 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $4,186,000 after buying an additional 102,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 28.5% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 340,694 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $9,175,000 after buying an additional 75,476 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHLB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.70.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company 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.