NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NBTB. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on NBT Bancorp from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of NBT Bancorp in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $54.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Stephens cut NBT Bancorp from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.10.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

Shares of NBTB stock opened at $53.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10 and a beta of 0.48. NBT Bancorp has a 12-month low of $39.19 and a 12-month high of $54.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $50.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The bank reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $186.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $188.81 million. NBT Bancorp had a net margin of 22.58% and a return on equity of 11.27%. Analysts expect that NBT Bancorp will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NBT Bancorp Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a positive change from NBT Bancorp’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. NBT Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is 36.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Ruth H. Mahoney sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.30, for a total value of $244,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,928 shares in the company, valued at $647,690.40. This represents a 27.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Heidi M. Hoeller sold 2,100 shares of NBT Bancorp stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total value of $100,863.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $555,226.80. The trade was a 15.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 20,600 shares of company stock worth $1,064,573 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.99% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NBTB. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in NBT Bancorp during the second quarter worth about $369,183,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of NBT Bancorp by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,531,336 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,177,000 after buying an additional 182,793 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of NBT Bancorp by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,330,975 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $99,252,000 after buying an additional 30,141 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 663,092 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,532,000 after buying an additional 12,967 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 560,259 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,856,000 after buying an additional 128,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.46% of the company’s stock.

About NBT Bancorp

NBT Bancorp, Inc (NASDAQ: NBTB) is the bank holding company for NBT Bank, N.A., a full-service commercial bank that serves both individual and corporate clients across the Northeastern United States. Through its branch network and digital channels, the company offers a comprehensive range of commercial banking services, including business lending, treasury management, cash management and specialized industry financing. Its consumer banking platform provides checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, home mortgages, home equity lines of credit and other lending solutions tailored to meet personal and household financial needs.

In addition to traditional banking, NBT Bancorp delivers wealth management and fiduciary services through its trust division, offering investment advisory, trust administration, retirement planning and estate settlement.