Berkshire Hills Bancorp in Boston has created a three-year plan to improve investor returns. The $12.8 billion-asset company, in a presentation shared on Tuesday, said it will continue to close branches, centralize more operations and take other steps to become more efficient. The moves should increase return on tangible common equity by 680 to 880 basis points, to 10% to 12%, while boosting return on assets by 76 to 81 basis

Several bank analysts have changed jobs in recent weeks.Matthew Kelley shared on his LinkedIn profile that he had been hired as a director at JAM FINTOP Bank Network, a collaboration between Jacobs Asset Management and FINTOP Capital. Kelley recently served as a managing director and bank analyst at Stephens. Kelley will manage the network of community banks that participate in projects with JAM FINTOP.Jacobs and FINTOP recently created JAM FINTOP

Equity Bancshares in Wichita, Kan., is bolstering operations in its home state with an agreement to buy American State Bancshares in Wichita. The $4.2 billion-asset Equity said in a press release Monday that it will pay $73.6 million in stock for the parent of the $779 million-asset American State Bank. About $6.6 million of American State preferred stock will be redeemed when the deal closes. The deal, which is expected to close