Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) Short Interest Up 15.6% in January

Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a growth of 15.6% from the January 15th total of 1,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 234,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.9 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community Bank System

In related news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $425,661.30. This trade represents a 40.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.98, for a total transaction of $74,953.28. Following the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Bank System

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in Community Bank System by 99.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,081 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Community Bank System by 140.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Community Bank System by 23.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Community Bank System by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,774 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CBU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James raised Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock.

Community Bank System Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE CBU traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $65.02. The company had a trading volume of 83,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,061. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 0.67. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.39. Community Bank System has a 1-year low of $41.50 and a 1-year high of $73.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is 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.