Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Stake in Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System disclosed a new stake in Community Financial System, buying 23,400 shares valued at about $1.37 million in the first quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also made large moves in CBU, and institutions now own 73.79% of the company’s stock. At the same time, insiders were net sellers, including director Mark J. Bolus and Eric Stickels.
• Community Financial System reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.15 per share and continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.47 per share, implying an annualized yield of 2.8%.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,400 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,372,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBU. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 2,430.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 168,892 shares of the bank's stock worth $9,701,000 after buying an additional 162,218 shares in the last quarter. Numerai GP LLC purchased a new stake in Community Financial System during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,117,000. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Community Financial System by 692.8% in the 3rd quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 47,787 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,802,000 after acquiring an additional 41,759 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Community Financial System by 95.1% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,825 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 10,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Community Financial System by 10,989.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 200,049 shares of the bank's stock worth $11,491,000 after purchasing an additional 198,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community Financial System

In other news, Director Mark J. Bolus sold 12,191 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $816,797.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 94,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,302,020. This represents a 11.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric Stickels sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total value of $127,960.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 31,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,021,256.16. The trade was a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CBU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Community Financial System from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut Community Financial System from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Community Financial System from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Community Financial System in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Community Financial System presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.75.

Community Financial System Stock Performance

Community Financial System stock opened at $67.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.03. Community Financial System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.12 and a 1-year high of $69.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.77.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.05. Community Financial System had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The firm had revenue of $213.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current year.

Community Financial System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Community Financial System's payout ratio is currently 45.63%.

About Community Financial System

Community Financial System NYSE: CBU is the bank holding company for Community Bank, National Association, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in DeWitt, New York. Through its principal subsidiary, the company offers a range of banking and financial services designed to meet the needs of both consumer and business clients. Its organizational structure centers on community-based banking operations supported by centralized technology, risk management and administrative functions.

The company's product offerings include deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgage loans, commercial and consumer lending, treasury and cash management services, and electronic banking.

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