Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 6,150 Shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 234,849 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,150 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.50% of NBT Bancorp worth $10,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NBTB. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in NBT Bancorp by 817.7% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 1,450 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake 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 worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake 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 worth $119,000 after acquiring 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 worth approximately $206,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 58.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

NBT Bancorp Price Performance

NASDAQ:NBTB opened at $44.36 on Tuesday. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.31 and a 52 week high of $52.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $2.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.92.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. NBT Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 17.99%. The company had revenue of $155.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. NBT Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on NBTB. Piper Sandler raised NBT Bancorp to a “neutral” rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Hovde Group began coverage on NBT Bancorp in a research note on Friday, March 21st. They set a “market perform” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on NBT Bancorp from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NBT Bancorp news, Director John H. Watt, Jr. sold 7,869 shares of NBT Bancorp stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.02, for a total value of $330,655.38. Following the sale, the director owned 116,027 shares in the company, valued at $4,875,454.54. The trade was a 6.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Heidi M. Hoeller acquired 2,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $42.88 per share, for a total transaction of $110,973.44. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 11,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,464.64. This trade represents a 28.79% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 5,491 shares of company stock worth $235,674 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.03% of the company’s stock.

NBT Bancorp 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.