Community Financial System's (CBU) Hold (C+) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Community Financial System's (CBU) stock received a "hold (C+)" rating from Weiss Ratings, which was reaffirmed in a recent report.
• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target for CBU from $69.00 to $67.00, while Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a "hold" to a "sell" rating.
• In its latest earnings report, Community Financial System missed consensus estimates with $0.97 earnings per share, below the expected $1.03, despite posting an 8.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c+)" rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on CBU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Community Financial System from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Community Financial System from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.00.

Community Financial System Price Performance

NYSE CBU traded down $0.31 on Wednesday, reaching $57.91. 178,033 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 284,429. Community Financial System has a 12 month low of $49.44 and a 12 month high of $73.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $56.76. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 0.77.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.06). Community Financial System had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 19.91%.The firm had revenue of $199.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Community Financial System will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Community Financial System

In other news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,440 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.38, for a total value of $88,387.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $408,606.66. This represents a 17.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Financial System

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 834,490 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,449,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Community Financial System in the second quarter worth about $34,546,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 7.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 550,613 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,308,000 after acquiring an additional 40,384 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Community Financial System by 25.3% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 354,906 shares of the bank's stock valued at $20,184,000 after buying an additional 71,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Community Financial System by 80.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 339,696 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,315,000 after purchasing an additional 151,189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company's stock.

Community Financial 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.

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