NBT Bancorp Inc. (NBTB): Hedge Funds and Insiders Are Bullish, What Should You Do?

NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) has experienced an increase in hedge fund interest of late.

In the financial world, there are a multitude of gauges investors can use to monitor their holdings. A duo of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading activity. At Insider Monkey, our studies have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the top fund managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, positive insider trading sentiment is another way to break down the financial markets. Just as you’d expect, there are lots of reasons for an insider to sell shares of his or her company, but just one, very clear reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand where to look (learn more here).

Consequently, let’s take a glance at the recent action surrounding NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB).

What have hedge funds been doing with NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)?

In preparation for this quarter, a total of 6 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 20% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of noteworthy hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings substantially.

According to our comprehensive database, AQR Capital Management, managed by Cliff Asness, holds the most valuable position in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB). AQR Capital Management has a $9.2 million position in the stock, comprising less than 0.1%% of its 13F portfolio. Coming in second is Dreman Value Management, managed by David Dreman, which held a $7.2 million position; 0.2% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedgies that are bullish include Neil Chriss’s Hutchin Hill Capital, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Hutchin Hill Capital, managed by Neil Chriss, initiated the most outsized position in NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB). Hutchin Hill Capital had 3.3 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors also initiated a $0.7 million position during the quarter. The only other fund with a brand new NBTB position is Matthew Hulsizer’s PEAK6 Capital Management.

What have insiders been doing with NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB)?

Insider buying is most useful when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time period, NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) has seen 1 unique insiders buying, and 4 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB). These stocks are Beneficial Mutual Bancorp Inc (NASDAQ:BNCL), Oritani Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:ORIT), Boston Private Financial Hldg Inc (NASDAQ:BPFH), First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF), and Independent Bank Corp (NASDAQ:INDB). This group of stocks belong to the regional – northeast banks industry and their market caps are closest to NBTB’s market cap.