Legato Capital Management LLC Purchases 7,515 Shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)

Legato Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) by 102.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,835 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,515 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in NBT Bancorp were worth $709,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in NBT Bancorp by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,118,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,477,000 after purchasing an additional 10,628 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 585,636 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,903,000 after acquiring an additional 7,294 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 76.3% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 378,898 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,759,000 after acquiring an additional 163,952 shares during the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NBT Bancorp by 40.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 309,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,680,000 after acquiring an additional 89,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of NBT Bancorp during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,007,000. 58.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NBTB shares. Stephens raised shares of NBT Bancorp from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of NBT Bancorp from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of NBT Bancorp from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of NBT Bancorp in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, NBT Bancorp has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

NBT Bancorp Stock Performance

NBTB opened at $48.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.38 and its 200 day moving average is $47.11. NBT Bancorp Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.79 and a 12-month high of $52.44.

NBT Bancorp (NASDAQ:NBTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). NBT Bancorp had a return on equity of 9.39% and a net margin of 17.84%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that NBT Bancorp Inc. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

NBT Bancorp Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. NBT Bancorp’s payout ratio is 45.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NBT Bancorp news, EVP Amy Wiles sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.31, for a total transaction of $25,655.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,406,355.79. This trade represents a 1.79 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sarah A. Halliday sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.45, for a total transaction of $242,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,575.80. The trade was a 16.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,694 shares of company stock worth $778,535. Company insiders own 3.32% 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.