Janney Montgomery Scott Lowers Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) to Neutral

Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $28.00 target price on the savings and loans company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Hovde Group upped their price target on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com lowered Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $26.80.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Down 1.3 %

BHLB stock opened at $27.34 on Monday. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1-year low of $18.31 and a 1-year high of $28.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.68 and a beta of 0.88.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The savings and loans company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $174.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $108.46 million. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.61% and a net margin of 3.37%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 20th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 20th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is 144.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 15.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 397,579 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 53,162 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,843 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $534,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 11,967 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth $258,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.