StockNews.com Upgrades Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Community Bank System Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of Community Bank System stock opened at $56.40 on Friday. Community Bank System has a 1 year low of $42.16 and a 1 year high of $73.39. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 0.77. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.50.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. Community Bank System had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $196.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.13 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.18 earnings per share. Community Bank System's revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Community Bank System will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.26%. Community Bank System's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in Community Bank System by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,647 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,367,000 after purchasing an additional 54,554 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Community Bank System by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 254,869 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,720,000 after buying an additional 7,160 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Community Bank System in the 4th quarter worth about $687,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Community Bank System by 264.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 33,239 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 24,127 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Community Bank System in the 4th quarter worth about $34,779,000. 73.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.