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

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

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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 report on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Community Bank System currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.25.

Community Bank System Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of CBU stock opened at $68.28 on Thursday. Community Bank System has a 1-year low of $41.50 and a 1-year high of $73.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.27 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $63.68 and a 200-day moving average of $56.92.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Community Bank System will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.32%.

Insider Activity at Community Bank System

In other Community Bank System 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,661.30. The trade was a 40.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CBU. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Community Bank System during the 2nd quarter valued at $76,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in Community Bank System by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Community Bank System by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Community Bank System by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Community Bank System in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

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.