Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) Short Interest Update

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a growth of 84.6% from the December 31st total of 882,900 shares. Currently, 3.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 348,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.56. 621,591 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 403,327. Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a 1-year low of $20.50 and a 1-year high of $32.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.06 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.52%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on BHLB shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $34.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,869 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,879 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169 shares during the period. Finally, Plimoth Trust Co. LLC acquired a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.07% 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.