Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 1,140 Shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,576 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Community Bank System by 152.9% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 182,397 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,611,000 after acquiring an additional 110,288 shares during the last quarter. Citizens & Northern Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Community Bank System during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $398,000. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Community Bank System by 494.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 30,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,774,000 after buying an additional 25,415 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 9.5% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 96,742 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,618,000 after buying an additional 8,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in Community Bank System by 17.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 80,008 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,777,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on 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, Raymond James upgraded 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 report on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.25.

Insider Transactions at Community Bank System

In related news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value of $287,794.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,661.30. This represents a 40.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Community Bank System Price Performance

CBU opened at $67.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17 and a beta of 0.65. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.50 and a 12 month high of $73.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.49.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $188.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.32%.

About Community Bank System

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.