Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Sells 2,285 Shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 43,328 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,285 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Community Bank System were worth $2,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CBU. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Community Bank System by 10.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,488 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $783,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Community Bank System in the 3rd quarter valued at about $716,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Community Bank System by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 652,991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,919,000 after buying an additional 9,863 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Community Bank System by 9.5% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 96,742 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,618,000 after acquiring an additional 8,356 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Community Bank System by 21.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 61,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,568,000 after acquiring an additional 10,727 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.98, for a total transaction of $74,953.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,443.22. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CBU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

Shares of CBU opened at $57.92 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 0.66. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.50 and a 52 week high of $73.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. Community Bank System had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 19.40%. The business had revenue of $196.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. Community Bank System’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is currently 53.49%.

Community Bank System Company 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.