Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 96,146 Shares of Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Community Financial System, selling 96,146 shares to hold approximately 12.00% of the company, valued at $360.4 million.
• Community Financial System announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.47 per share, representing a yield of 3.3% and a payout ratio of 50.14%.
• The company's stock traded down 3.3% recently, with a PE ratio of 15.37 and a market cap of $2.98 billion.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,338,337 shares of the bank's stock after selling 96,146 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 12.00% of Community Financial System worth $360,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CBU. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in Community Financial System by 15.6% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,153 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,402,000 after acquiring an additional 7,428 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 75,177 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,637,000 after buying an additional 10,809 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,140 shares of the bank's stock valued at $564,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 188,507 shares of the bank's stock valued at $11,627,000 after buying an additional 8,218 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Community Financial System in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $687,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CBU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on 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 downgraded 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Community Financial System presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $68.00.

Community Financial System Trading Up 0.1%

CBU stock traded up $0.0560 during trading on Thursday, hitting $57.1960. The company had a trading volume of 197,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 337,508. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.29 and a 200-day moving average of $57.34. Community Financial System, Inc. has a one year low of $49.44 and a one year high of $73.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.58 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $199.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $201.93 million. Community Financial System had a net margin of 19.91% and a return on equity of 10.71%. The business's revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This is a positive change from Community Financial System's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Community Financial System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.