Seaport Res Ptn Analysts Decrease Earnings Estimates for Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) – Seaport Res Ptn dropped their Q4 2024 EPS estimates for shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report released on Wednesday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn analyst L. Hunsicker now expects that the savings and loans company will post earnings of $0.51 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.55. Seaport Res Ptn has a “Neutral” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s current full-year earnings is $2.05 per share. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s Q1 2025 earnings at $0.53 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.59 EPS and Q4 2025 earnings at $0.61 EPS.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 8.77%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research note on Friday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $25.00.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Up 1.7 %

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $22.29 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $968.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.58 and a beta of 0.87. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 52-week low of $18.07 and a 52-week high of $25.79.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,843 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 21,754 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,884 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 806 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 122,812 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $2,815,000 after buying an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 12,584 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 1,691 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $223,542.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael Zaitzeff sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.43, for a total transaction of $605,610.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,855 shares in the company, valued at $265,907.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Baye Adofo-Wilson sold 10,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $223,542.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,850 shares of company stock worth $3,437,063 in the last ninety days. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 21st were issued a $0.18 dividend. 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 3.23%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 144.00%.

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.