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

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

NBTB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on NBT Bancorp in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target 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 issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.80.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

NBTB opened at $46.38 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 0.53. NBT Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.79 and a 1 year high of $52.44.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy E. Delaney sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $2,058,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 38,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,999,763.91. This trade represents a 50.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Wiles sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.10, for a total value of $50,100.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,398,240.90. This represents a 3.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 81,694 shares of company stock valued at $4,048,185. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NBT Bancorp

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 593,436 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 163,952 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 14.9% during the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 828,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,978,000 after buying an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of NBT Bancorp by 40.9% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 309,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,680,000 after buying an additional 89,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 472.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 74,468 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,379,000 after buying an additional 61,451 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.