KBC Group NV Acquires 519 Shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 28.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,335 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $144,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CBU. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of 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. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Community Bank System in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Community Bank System by 51.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the bank’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Community Bank System during the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Community Bank System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $226,000. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Community Bank System news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.98, for a total transaction of $74,953.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,539 shares in the company, valued at $431,443.22. The trade was a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value of $287,794.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,661.30. The trade was a 40.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank System Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:CBU opened at $67.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.14. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.50 and a 1 year high of $73.39.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on CBU shares. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Community Bank System in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised shares of 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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.