Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $67.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Community Bank System in a report on Tuesday, September 10th.

Community Bank System Price Performance

CBU opened at $61.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.87. Community Bank System has a 1 year low of $39.05 and a 1 year high of $63.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.05). Community Bank System had a return on equity of 8.94% and a net margin of 15.90%. The firm had revenue of $188.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.35 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Community Bank System will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Bank System

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Community Bank System in the 2nd quarter worth $76,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 27.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Community Bank System during the 2nd quarter valued at $212,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,895 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Community Bank System in the 2nd quarter worth $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank 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.