Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CBU. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Community Financial System in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Community Financial System from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.00.

Community Financial System Price Performance

Shares of Community Financial System stock opened at $56.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 15.34 and a beta of 0.77. 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 has a 12 month low of $49.44 and a 12 month high of $73.39. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $58.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.70.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.03 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $199.30 million during 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Community Financial System will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Financial System Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. This is an increase from Community Financial System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. Community Financial System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,440 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.38, for a total transaction of $88,387.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 6,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $408,606.66. This represents a 17.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.01% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Community Financial System

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Community Financial System by 14,655.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 17,854 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,015,000 after acquiring an additional 17,733 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Community Financial System by 18.0% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Community Financial System in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,147,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Community Financial System by 6.3% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 55,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,174,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Community Financial System by 12.5% in the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

About Community Financial 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, 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.