Eisler Capital Management Ltd. Invests $257,000 in Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

Key Points

• Eisler Capital Management Ltd. has acquired a position worth approximately $257,000 in Community Financial System, purchasing 4,522 shares in the first quarter.
• Community Financial System has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.47 per share, up from $0.46, with a dividend yield of 3.1%.
• Analysts have recently issued ratings changes for Community Financial System, with a downgrade from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen and a decrease in price target by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $69.00 to $67.00.

Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,522 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Community Financial System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,368,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Community Financial System in the 1st quarter valued at $9,294,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Community Financial System by 80.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 339,696 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,315,000 after buying an additional 151,189 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 677,841 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,809,000 after acquiring an additional 145,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Community Financial System by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 167,039 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,498,000 after acquiring an additional 36,132 shares during the period. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CBU shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Community Financial System from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Community Financial System from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.00.

Community Financial System Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:CBU traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $59.31. 83,750 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 239,486. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.93. Community Financial System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $49.44 and a twelve month high of $73.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15 and a beta of 0.79.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $199.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.93 million. Community Financial System had a net margin of 19.91% and a return on equity of 10.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Community Financial System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Community Financial System's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Community Financial System's payout ratio is currently 50.14%.

Insider Activity

In other Community Financial System news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,440 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.38, for a total value of $88,387.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 6,657 shares of the company's stock, valued at $408,606.66. This trade represents a 17.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.01% 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.