NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,699 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,395 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of NBT Bancorp worth $10,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. US Bancorp DE acquired a new position in NBT Bancorp in the third quarter valued at about $57,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of NBT Bancorp by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 4th quarter worth approximately $98,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 47.5% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,152 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 693 shares during the last quarter. 58.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other NBT Bancorp news, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total value of $242,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,238,575.80. This represents a 16.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Wiles sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.31, for a total transaction of $25,655.00. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,694 shares of company stock worth $277,935. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

NBT Bancorp Trading Up 1.3 %

NBTB opened at $47.75 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $47.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.79 and a 12 month high of $52.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.13 and a beta of 0.52.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). NBT Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.39% and a net margin of 17.84%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NBT Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. NBT Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on NBTB. Stephens upgraded NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on NBT Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.75.

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.