Hovde Group Initiates Coverage on NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB)

Equities researchers at Hovde Group started coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) in a research note issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “market perform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Hovde Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.82% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Stephens raised shares of NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.50.

NBT Bancorp Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:NBTB opened at $42.80 on Friday. NBT Bancorp has a one year low of $32.93 and a one year high of $52.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46 and a beta of 0.48.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that NBT Bancorp will post 3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total transaction of $242,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,238,575.80. The trade was a 16.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi M. Hoeller acquired 678 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $48.45 per share, with a total value of $32,849.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 6,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $311,872.65. The trade was a 11.77 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. raised 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 valued at $16,759,000 after purchasing an additional 163,952 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 55.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 224,874 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,946,000 after buying an additional 80,232 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 683,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,632,000 after buying an additional 75,693 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in NBT Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 41.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 91,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,064,000 after buying an additional 27,085 shares during the last quarter. 58.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NBT Bancorp Company Profile

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.