Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on 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.

Community Financial System Stock Performance

Shares of CBU opened at $52.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $56.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26 and a beta of 0.80. Community Financial System has a 52 week low of $49.44 and a 52 week high of $73.39.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $201.93 million. Community Financial System had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 19.91%. The business’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 posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Community Financial System will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This is a boost from Community Financial System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Community Financial System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Financial System

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CBU. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Community Financial System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $687,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 264.8% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 33,239 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 24,127 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 210.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 348,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,490,000 after buying an additional 236,028 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Community Financial System in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,779,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 15.6% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,153 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,402,000 after buying an additional 7,428 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

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.