Raymond James Lowers Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) to Market Perform

Raymond James downgraded shares of Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Community Bank System Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE CBU opened at $62.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.76. Community Bank System has a one year low of $35.38 and a one year high of $63.95.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $183.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.05 million. Community Bank System had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Community Bank System will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. This is a boost from Community Bank System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is presently 56.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community Bank System

In related news, CEO Dimitar Karaivanov acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.52 per share, with a total value of $43,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,653 shares in the company, valued at approximately $855,298.56. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Bank System

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Community Bank System by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,596,018 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $343,718,000 after buying an additional 43,001 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Community Bank System by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,582,679 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,475,000 after acquiring an additional 91,165 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Community Bank System by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 814,362 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,436,000 after purchasing an additional 107,285 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Community Bank System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,870,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Community Bank System by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 591,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,845,000 after purchasing an additional 32,459 shares during the last quarter. 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.