Fulton Bank N.A. Grows Position in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 17.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,506 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Community Bank System by 99.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Community Bank System by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,930 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Community Bank System by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 29,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,373,000 after buying an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 15.9% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 5,059 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank System Price Performance

CBU stock opened at $60.39 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.96 and a 200-day moving average of $60.13. Community Bank System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.50 and a fifty-two week high of $73.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $188.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders 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 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is currently 57.32%.

Insider Activity

In other Community Bank System 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 value of $287,794.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,823 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through this hyperlink. 1.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CBU. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.25.

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.