Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Now Covered by Analysts at Piper Sandler

Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $70.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CBU. Raymond James upgraded Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Community Bank System currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.25.

Community Bank System Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CBU opened at $68.68 on Thursday. Community Bank System has a fifty-two week low of $41.50 and a fifty-two week high of $73.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $63.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Community Bank System will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is 57.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $287,794.70. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Community Bank System in the 2nd quarter worth about $76,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Community Bank System by 23.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Community Bank System by 51.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the bank’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Community Bank System by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Community Bank System during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. 73.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.