NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NBTB. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.80.

NBT Bancorp Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NBTB opened at $46.75 on Tuesday. NBT Bancorp has a twelve month low of $32.79 and a twelve month high of $52.44. The company has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $49.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. NBT Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.36% and a net margin of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $202.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. On average, analysts predict that NBT Bancorp will post 2.94 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. NBT Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Amy Wiles sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.31, for a total value of $25,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,355.79. The trade was a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy E. Delaney sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total transaction of $2,058,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,853 shares in the company, valued at $1,999,763.91. This represents a 50.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 81,694 shares of company stock worth $4,048,185. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NBT Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in NBT Bancorp by 47.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE bought a new stake in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in NBT Bancorp during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $103,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in NBT Bancorp in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.46% of the company’s stock.

About NBT Bancorp

NBT Bancorp Inc, a financial holding company, provides commercial banking, retail banking, and wealth management services. Its deposit products include demand deposit, savings, negotiable order of withdrawal, money market deposit, and certificate of deposit accounts. The company's loan portfolio comprises indirect and direct consumer, home equity, mortgages, business banking loans, and commercial loans; commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, agricultural, and commercial construction loans; and residential real estate loans.