Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 11,134 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,208,859 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,212,000 after purchasing an additional 8,751 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Community Bank System by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 661,317 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,790,000 after buying an additional 8,326 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Community Bank System by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 565,920 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,906,000 after buying an additional 34,143 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Community Bank System by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 254,869 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,720,000 after buying an additional 7,160 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Community Bank System by 699.3% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 144,817 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after acquiring an additional 126,700 shares in the last quarter. 73.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Activity at Community Bank System

In other Community Bank System news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.98, for a total transaction of $74,953.28. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 6,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,443.22. The trade was a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Community Bank System Stock Down 3.5 %

NYSE:CBU opened at $51.42 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Community Bank System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.50 and a fifty-two week high of $73.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.74.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $196.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.95 million. Community Bank System had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 10.94%. Community Bank System’s revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.49%.

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, 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.