NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $51.93 and last traded at $51.63, with a volume of 42074 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $50.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on NBTB. Raymond James cut shares of NBT Bancorp from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of NBT Bancorp from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $49.00 price target on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, NBT Bancorp currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.60.

NBT Bancorp Trading Down 1.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.48 and a beta of 0.49. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.53.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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 earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 2.91 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. NBT Bancorp’s payout ratio is presently 47.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NBT Bancorp news, Director V Daniel Robinson II sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.10, for a total value of $882,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 517,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,824,307.80. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy E. Delaney sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.47, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 50.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 162,556 shares of company stock worth $7,545,690. Company insiders own 3.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NBT Bancorp

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $411,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $103,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in NBT Bancorp by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 125,670 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,558,000 after buying an additional 1,681 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP acquired a new stake in NBT Bancorp in the 3rd quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 15,616 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $691,000 after acquiring an additional 6,358 shares during the period. 58.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

NBT Bancorp Company Profile

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.