Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. Has $595,000 Stock Holdings in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,410 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 940 shares during the period. Laurus Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 17,408 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,221,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 3,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $213,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 8,250 shares of the bank’s stock worth $387,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 28,161 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,320,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 82.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sally A. Steele sold 3,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.76, for a total value of $170,708.76. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,639,993.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Sally A. Steele sold 3,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.76, for a total value of $170,708.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,639,993.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Bolus sold 3,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $163,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 96,364 shares in the company, valued at $4,336,380. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CBU shares. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Community Bank System in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community Bank System to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Community Bank System from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.00.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

NYSE CBU opened at $47.41 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.55. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.38 and a 12-month high of $55.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.74 and a beta of 0.65.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $177.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $175.25 million. Community Bank System had a return on equity of 9.15% and a net margin of 13.78%. Community Bank System’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is 71.15%.

About Community Bank System

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, 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.