LPL Financial LLC Grows Stake in Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Community Financial System by 19.0% during the first quarter, owning approximately 27,894 shares valued at $1,586,000 according to SEC filings.
• The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.97 for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations of $1.03, while revenues were below consensus estimates as well.
• Community Financial System announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.47 per share, up from $0.46, representing an annual yield of 3.3%.

LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,894 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 4,463 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Community Financial System worth $1,586,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Community Financial System by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 677,841 shares of the bank's stock worth $41,809,000 after purchasing an additional 145,172 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Community Financial System during the fourth quarter worth $32,368,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Community Financial System by 2.9% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 262,245 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,911,000 after purchasing an additional 7,376 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Community Financial System by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 128,437 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,922,000 after purchasing an additional 18,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Community Financial System by 11.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 83,987 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,775,000 after purchasing an additional 8,810 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CBU. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Community Financial System from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of 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. One 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Community Financial System Stock Performance

CBU traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, reaching $61.17. The stock had a trading volume of 206,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 335,481. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.80. The business's 50-day moving average price is $56.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. Community Financial System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $49.44 and a 12-month high of $73.39.

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

Community Financial System Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is an increase from Community Financial System's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Community Financial System's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.14%.

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.