Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) Short Interest Update

Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) saw a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a decline of 7.2% from the November 15th total of 1,250,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 246,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.7 days.

Community Bank System Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of CBU traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $67.50. The company had a trading volume of 189,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,045. Community Bank System has a 1-year low of $41.50 and a 1-year high of $73.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 0.65.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $188.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.35 million. Community Bank System had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.82%. Community Bank System’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Community Bank System will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CBU shares. Raymond James raised shares of 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 note on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community Bank System

In other Community Bank System news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were 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 $425,661.30. This trade represents a 40.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Bank System

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,770,648 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,588,000 after purchasing an additional 142,909 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Community Bank System by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,208,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,212,000 after buying an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in Community Bank System by 6.8% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 691,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,664,000 after buying an additional 44,137 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Community Bank System by 1.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 652,991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,919,000 after acquiring an additional 9,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 164.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 213,167 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,064,000 after acquiring an additional 132,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

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.