Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Share Price Crosses Below 50-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)’s share price passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.56 and traded as low as $27.55. Berkshire Hills Bancorp shares last traded at $27.86, with a volume of 354,557 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. 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 report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Berkshire Hills Bancorp has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.70.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33 and a beta of 0.89.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The savings and loans company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.03. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 5.86%. The firm had revenue of $125.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.79%.

Institutional Trading of Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHLB. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% during the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 58.5% during 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 buying an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors 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.