NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. DA Davidson began coverage on NBT Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, NBT Bancorp presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.80.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NBTB stock opened at $47.62 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 0.53. NBT Bancorp has a 12 month low of $32.79 and a 12 month high of $52.44. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.40. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $202.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.70 million. NBT Bancorp had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 9.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that NBT Bancorp will post 2.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at NBT Bancorp

In related news, Director John H. Watt, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of NBT Bancorp stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 143,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,503,940.45. The trade was a 12.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy E. Delaney sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total transaction of $2,058,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,763.91. This trade represents a 50.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,694 shares of company stock worth $4,048,185 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NBT Bancorp

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in NBT Bancorp by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,297,333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $88,675,000 after buying an additional 46,498 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in NBT Bancorp by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,477,000 after purchasing an additional 10,628 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 828,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,978,000 after purchasing an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,636 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,903,000 after purchasing an additional 7,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 76.3% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 378,898 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,759,000 after purchasing an additional 163,952 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.