Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) Shares Cross Below 50 Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)’s stock price crossed 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 traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BHLB shares. Piper Sandler 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 dropped their price objective on Berkshire Hills Bancorp from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note 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 note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Berkshire Hills Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.13.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.57 and a 200 day moving average of $27.31. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 28.72 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 75.79%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BHLB. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 2nd quarter worth about $104,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings 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 worth $134,000 after buying an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC bought a new stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by 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.