Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Price Target Raised to $76.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) had its price objective hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $74.00 to $76.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CBU. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Raymond James upgraded shares of Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th.

Community Bank System Price Performance

Community Bank System stock opened at $64.87 on Wednesday. Community Bank System has a 52 week low of $41.50 and a 52 week high of $73.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.21 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. Community Bank System had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 10.52%. The company had revenue of $196.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190,950 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Community Bank System will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBU. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Community Bank System by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,335 shares of the bank’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Community Bank System in the fourth quarter worth approximately $141,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 50,322 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,104,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Community Bank System in the 4th quarter worth $207,000. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 55,445 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,420,000 after acquiring an additional 5,688 shares during the period. 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.