NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $49.00 price target on shares of NBT Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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, DA Davidson began coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.80.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NBTB opened at $46.38 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.08. NBT Bancorp has a fifty-two week low of $32.79 and a fifty-two week high of $52.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33 and a beta of 0.53. 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 (NASDAQ:NBTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. NBT Bancorp had a net margin of 17.37% and a return on equity of 9.36%. The company had revenue of $202.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that NBT Bancorp will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other NBT Bancorp news, Director John H. Watt, Jr. sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.45, for a total value of $909,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 143,101 shares in the company, valued at $6,503,940.45. This trade represents a 12.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Timothy E. Delaney sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total value of $2,058,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 38,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,999,763.91. This represents a 50.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,694 shares of company stock worth $4,048,185 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NBT Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in NBT Bancorp by 47.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 778 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE bought a new stake in shares of NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at about $57,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in NBT Bancorp during the third quarter worth about $103,000. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in NBT Bancorp during the third quarter worth approximately $217,000. 58.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.