Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC Takes $211,000 Position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC has acquired a new investment in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) during the third quarter, as reported in the company's latest Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,844 shares of the banking company's stock, which is valued at around $211,000.

Several other institutional investors have also adjusted their positions in BHLB. Notably, nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 233.3% in the third quarter, now owning 2,000 shares valued at $54,000 after adding 1,400 shares recently. Furthermore, Meeder Asset Management Inc. initiated a new investment in Berkshire Hills Bancorp worth approximately $104,000 during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted their stake by 58.5% during the same period, and now possesses 5,879 shares valued at $134,000 following the acquisition of 2,169 more shares. Additionally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp. bought a new stake in the first quarter valued at around $146,000. Lastly, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position by 7.4% in the first quarter, resulting in total ownership of 8,752 shares valued at $201,000 after a purchase of an additional 601 shares. It is noteworthy that institutional investors and hedge funds collectively hold 83.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Various research firms have recently evaluated Berkshire Hills Bancorp. On July 22nd, Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded the stock from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating, setting a price target of $28.00. On the other hand, the Hovde Group increased their price target from $28.00 to $31.00 and provided an “outperform” rating in a research report dated July 19th. In another development, StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating on July 24th. Currently, six equity research analysts have given Berkshire Hills Bancorp a hold rating, with one issuing a buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average target price of $26.80 and a consensus rating of “Hold.”

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Stock Update

As of the latest trading session, Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) was valued at $26.98. The company has a fifty-day moving average of $26.90 and a two-hundred-day moving average at $24.52. Berkshire Hills Bancorp exhibits a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, with both a quick and current ratio of 1.01 each. The market capitalization stands at $1.17 billion, with a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.96 and a beta of 0.86. The stock had a yearly low of $18.87 and reached a high of $28.51 within the past year.

In the most recent earnings report released on October 24th, Berkshire Hills Bancorp reported earnings of $0.58 per share for the quarter, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.55 by $0.03. The company recorded a return on equity of 8.61% along with a net margin of 3.37%. For the quarter, revenue totaled $125.70 million, surpassing the anticipated $119.61 million. This revenue marked a 16.6% increase compared to the same quarter from the previous year. Analysts predict Berkshire Hills Bancorp will achieve earnings of $2.12 per share in the current fiscal year.

Dividend Announcement

Recently, Berkshire Hills Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid out on October 10th. Record-holders as of September 30th received a dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was also on September 30th. This equates to a total annualized dividend of $0.72, providing a dividend yield of 2.67%. However, it's important to note that the dividend payout ratio (DPR) stands at 144.00%.

About Berkshire Hills Bancorp

Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Berkshire Bank. It offers a wide range of banking products and services throughout the United States, including various deposit accounts such as demand deposits, interest-bearing checking accounts, regular savings accounts, and retirement deposit accounts.

Joel, Investment, Berkshire