National Bank Holdings Corporation $NBHC Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of National Bank Holdings Corporation (NYSE:NBHC) by 7.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 603,154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 48,079 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.59% of National Bank worth $23,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of National Bank by 110.4% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 43,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,663,000 after purchasing an additional 22,583 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in shares of National Bank by 97.9% in the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 80,567 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after purchasing an additional 39,848 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in National Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $14,240,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of National Bank in the third quarter valued at $25,869,000. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in National Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $413,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 price target on shares of National Bank in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research raised National Bank from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of National Bank from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of National Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stephens raised shares of National Bank from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, National Bank currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.75.

National Bank Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of National Bank stock opened at $41.80 on Friday. National Bank Holdings Corporation has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $44.11. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 0.81.

National Bank (NYSE:NBHC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The financial services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by ($0.27). National Bank had a net margin of 18.66% and a return on equity of 8.65%. The company had revenue of $100.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $107.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.86 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that National Bank Holdings Corporation will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

National Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This is an increase from National Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.31. National Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 43.51%.

About National Bank

National Bank Holdings Corporation (NYSE: NBHC) is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Through its network of community bank subsidiaries, the company provides deposit, lending and payment solutions to consumer, small business and commercial clients across multiple U.S. markets.

Since its founding in 1992, National Bank Holdings has pursued a growth strategy focused on acquiring and integrating locally branded community banks. Its footprint spans the Midwest and Southern United States, including Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Illinois and Tennessee.