Renaissance Technologies LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB)

Renaissance Technologies LLC lowered its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:BHLB) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 406,321 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 16,400 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Berkshire Hills Bancorp were worth $11,552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BHLB. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 282.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp by 2,259.4% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,265 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised 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. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC purchased a new position in Berkshire Hills Bancorp in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp during the fourth quarter worth $256,000. 83.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Price Performance

Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock opened at $23.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.00. Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.50 and a 12-month high of $32.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37 and a beta of 0.58.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp (NYSE:BHLB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The savings and loans company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.06. Berkshire Hills Bancorp had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 8.91%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 20th. Berkshire Hills Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BHLB has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 note on Tuesday, December 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Ellen Tulchiner sold 1,052 shares of Berkshire Hills Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.97, for a total value of $31,528.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp 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.