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

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday.

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

NBT Bancorp Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ NBTB traded down $0.73 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.75. The stock had a trading volume of 245,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 183,055. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 0.53. NBT Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.79 and a fifty-two week 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 $49.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.01.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other NBT Bancorp news, EVP Amy Wiles sold 500 shares of NBT Bancorp 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,406,355.79. The trade was a 1.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John H. Watt, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total transaction of $909,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 143,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,503,940.45. This represents a 12.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 81,694 shares of company stock valued at $4,048,185. 3.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NBT Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in NBT Bancorp by 540.2% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 703,286 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,147,000 after purchasing an additional 593,436 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 76.3% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 378,898 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,759,000 after buying an additional 163,952 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 309,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,680,000 after purchasing an additional 89,800 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in NBT Bancorp by 472.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 74,468 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,379,000 after purchasing an additional 61,451 shares during the last quarter. 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.