NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) Upgraded at Stephens

Stephens upgraded shares of NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $53.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of 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 price objective 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 lowered NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

NBT Bancorp Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NBTB opened at $47.63 on Wednesday. NBT Bancorp has a 1 year low of $32.79 and a 1 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $48.68 and its 200 day moving average is $47.05. The company has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a PE ratio of 16.09 and a beta of 0.53.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 17.84% and a return on equity of 9.39%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that NBT Bancorp will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. NBT Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

Insider Transactions at NBT Bancorp

In other news, Director Jack H. Webb sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.06, for a total transaction of $500,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 45,018 shares in the company, valued at $2,253,601.08. This represents a 18.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Wiles sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.10, for a total transaction of $50,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 27,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,240.90. The trade was a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,694 shares of company stock valued at $3,139,185 in the last ninety days. 3.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of NBT Bancorp

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NBTB. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 163,952 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 224,874 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,946,000 after acquiring an additional 80,232 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of NBT Bancorp during the third quarter valued at approximately $439,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 27,085 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 1.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. 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.