Wakefield Asset Management LLLP Acquires New Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 36,738 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,044,000. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP owned about 0.09% of Berkshire Hills Bancorp as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 38.4% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,031 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 3,615 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the third quarter valued at $215,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 5.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 137,820 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,711,000 after buying an additional 6,968 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,411 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 37,071 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 10,022 shares during the last quarter. 83.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $28.15 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 50-day simple moving average of $28.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.27. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55 and a beta of 0.88. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.36.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on BHLB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.13.

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.