23,200 Shares in NBT Bancorp Inc. $NBTB Purchased by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in NBT Bancorp, buying 23,200 shares worth about $988,000 in the first quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains fairly positive: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus, with an average price target of $51.50. Piper Sandler recently raised its target to $56, while DA Davidson reiterated a $52 target.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including Director Heidi M. Hoeller and EVP Ruth H. Mahoney, even as the stock recently traded near its 52-week high of $51.09 and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.37 per share.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 23,200 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,257 shares of the bank's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 28,929 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in NBT Bancorp by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,037 shares of the bank's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in NBT Bancorp by 1,645.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 646 shares of the bank's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in NBT Bancorp by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,316 shares of the bank's stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. 58.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of NBT Bancorp from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $52.00 price objective on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered their target price on NBT Bancorp from $47.00 to $46.50 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $51.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Heidi M. Hoeller sold 2,100 shares of NBT Bancorp stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.03, for a total transaction of $100,863.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,560 shares in the company, valued at $555,226.80. This trade represents a 15.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Ruth H. Mahoney sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.60, for a total transaction of $233,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,428 shares of the company's stock, valued at $765,544.80. This represents a 23.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 2.99% of the company's stock.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

NBTB opened at $50.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a one year low of $39.19 and a one year high of $51.09. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.48. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $46.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.54.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $184.48 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $185.35 million. NBT Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.06% and a net margin of 19.59%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. NBT Bancorp's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.17%.

NBT Bancorp Company Profile

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.

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