Northern Trust Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Community Financial System, Inc. by 1.6%, owning approximately 1.26% of the company with a value of $37.93 million after selling 10,781 shares in the first quarter.
• Community Financial System recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.47, representing an annualized yield of 3.1% and a payout ratio of 50.14%.
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.97 for the latest quarter, missing analysts' expectations, while its revenue increased by 8.4% year-over-year but fell short of forecasted figures.

Northern Trust Corp decreased its position in Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 667,060 shares of the bank's stock after selling 10,781 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.26% of Community Financial System worth $37,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CBU. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Community Financial System in the 4th quarter worth $32,368,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Community Financial System in the 1st quarter worth $9,294,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 80.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 339,696 shares of the bank's stock worth $19,315,000 after acquiring an additional 151,189 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 27.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in shares of Community Financial System in the 4th quarter worth $2,040,000. Institutional investors own 73.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CBU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Community Financial System from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Community Financial System has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.00.

Community Financial System Stock Performance

NYSE CBU traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $59.38. 165,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 310,544. Community Financial System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.44 and a 1 year high of $73.39. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $57.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.96. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.18 and a beta of 0.79.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $199.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $201.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Financial System Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This is a positive change from Community Financial System's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Community Financial System's dividend payout ratio is 50.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Community Financial System

In other news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,440 shares of Community Financial System stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $408,606.66. This trade represents a 17.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.01% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.