Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,849 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 6,150 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.50% of NBT Bancorp worth $10,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 817.7% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the bank's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,836 shares of the bank's stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 28.4% in the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,763 shares of the bank's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of NBT Bancorp in the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of NBT Bancorp by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,815 shares of the bank's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 58.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NBT Bancorp Trading Up 1.4%

NBT Bancorp stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $43.11. 180,362 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 238,930. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.31 and a fifty-two week high of $52.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.04. NBT Bancorp had a net margin of 17.99% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $155.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $151.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. NBT Bancorp's payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NBTB. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of NBT Bancorp to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a research report on Friday, March 21st. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of NBT Bancorp from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of NBT Bancorp from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NBT Bancorp currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $51.60.

Insider Activity

In other NBT Bancorp news, Director John H. Watt, Jr. sold 7,869 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.02, for a total transaction of $330,655.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 116,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,875,454.54. This trade represents a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi M. Hoeller bought 2,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $42.88 per share, with a total value of $110,973.44. Following the purchase, the director owned 11,578 shares of the company's stock, valued at $496,464.64. This trade represents a 28.79% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 5,491 shares of company stock valued at $235,674. 3.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.