Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Sees Significant Short-Term Interest Growth
Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BHLB – Get a rating) benefited from a significant increase in short-term interest during the month of August. As of August 31, there was short interest totaling 1,600,000 shares, an increase of 9.6% from the total of 1,460,000 shares as of August 15. About 3.6% of the stock’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume of 273,900 shares, the day-to-cover ratio is currently 5.8 days.
Institutional investors weigh in on Berkshire Hills Bancorp
Institutional investors have recently changed their stock portfolios. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new equity stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Q1 worth $35,000. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new equity stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Q2 for $74,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new equity stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Q1 worth $87,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new equity stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Q2 worth $96,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 5,340 shares of the savings and loan company worth $132,000 after acquiring 504 additional shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds hold 80.61% of the company’s shares.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares down 0.4%
Shares of NYSE:BHLB traded down $0.12 during Monday’s trading, hitting $29.39. 445,538 shares of the company were traded, against an average volume of 299,587. The company has a fifty-day simple moving average of $28.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.19. The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 1.04. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1-year minimum of $23.15 and a 1-year maximum of $31.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt ratio of 0.20.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE: BHLB – Get a rating) last reported results on Wednesday, July 20. The savings and loan company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.51 for the quarter, beating consensus analyst estimates of $0.46 by $0.05. The company posted revenue of $97.71 million in the quarter, versus analyst estimates of $96.78 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 28.30% and a return on equity of 8.08%. In the same quarter last year, the company posted EPS of $0.44. Analysts expect Berkshire Hills Bancorp to post earnings per share of 2.08 for the current fiscal year.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 25. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 11 received a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a dividend of $0.48 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 10. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.11%.
Analyst upgrades and downgrades
BHLB has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a Tuesday, September 13 research report. The Hovde Group launched a hedge on Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares in a research report on Tuesday, September 13. They set an “outperform” rating and a price target of $33.00 on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a price target of $31.00 on the stock in a Thursday, July 21 research report. Finally, Piper Sandler raised her price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock to $29.00 in a Friday, July 22 research report. Two investment analysts have assigned a sell rating to the stock, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.60.
Berkshire Hills Bancorp Company Profile
Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc operates as a banking holding company for Berkshire Bank which provides various banking products and services. It offers various deposit accounts, including demand deposit, NOW, regular savings, money market savings, term deposit certificates and retirement deposit accounts; and loans, such as commercial real estate, commercial and industrial, consumer and residential loans.
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