The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stock Position in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lowered its holdings in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 1.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 28,625 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 463 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $1,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Community Bank System in the 2nd quarter valued at $76,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Community Bank System by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Community Bank System during the 2nd quarter valued at about $212,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Community Bank System in the 2nd quarter worth $231,000. Institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CBU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James raised shares of Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.25.

Community Bank System Stock Down 1.4 %

Community Bank System stock opened at $67.71 on Tuesday. Community Bank System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.50 and a fifty-two week high of $73.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.33.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.05). Community Bank System had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $188.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of Community Bank System stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $287,794.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,661.30. The trade was a 40.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank System Profile

Community Bank System, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Community Bank, N.A. that provides various banking and other financial services to retail, commercial, institutional, and municipal customers. It operates through three segments: Banking, Employee Benefit Services, and All Other. The company offers various deposits products, such as interest and noninterest -bearing checking, savings, and money market deposit accounts, as well as time deposits.