Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stock Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 54,795 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.13% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth $1,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BHLB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,686,281 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $76,371,000 after acquiring an additional 10,579 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,547 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $36,719,000 after acquiring an additional 222,162 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 625,824 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $17,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,694 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 623.8% during the fourth quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 516,603 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $14,687,000 after acquiring an additional 445,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 441,143 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $12,542,000 after purchasing an additional 99,538 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.07% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE BHLB opened at $25.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.74. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a one year low of $20.76 and a one year high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $110.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.13.

Insider Transactions at Berkshire Hills Bancorp

In other Berkshire Hills Bancorp news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

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.