Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Price Target Raised to $76.00

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) had its target price lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $74.00 to $76.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CBU. Piper Sandler began 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 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 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 28th.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

Shares of Community Bank System stock opened at $65.50 on Wednesday. Community Bank System has a fifty-two week low of $41.50 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $65.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.42.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. Community Bank System had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm had revenue of $196.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190,950 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Community Bank System will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of Community Bank System 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 completion of the transaction, the director now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Bank System

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CBU. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Community Bank System by 99.2% in 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. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Community Bank System in the second quarter valued at $76,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Community Bank System by 23.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Community Bank System by 51.0% in the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Community Bank System in the fourth quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors 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.