Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Stock

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) had its price target increased by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $74.00 to $76.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 16.04% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company.

Community Bank System Stock Up 3.5 %

CBU opened at $65.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.40 and a beta of 0.67. Community Bank System has a one year low of $41.50 and a one year high of $73.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. Community Bank System had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.82%. The business had revenue of $196.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190,950 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.76 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Community Bank System will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Community Bank System

In related news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total transaction of $287,794.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,823 shares in the company, valued at $425,661.30. This represents a 40.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Community Bank System

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBU. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Community Bank System by 99.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 109,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,367,000 after buying an additional 54,554 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 56.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,582 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,311,000 after purchasing an additional 8,113 shares during the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Community Bank System by 494.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 30,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,774,000 after purchasing an additional 25,415 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Community Bank System by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 96,742 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,618,000 after purchasing an additional 8,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Community Bank System by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 652,991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,919,000 after buying an additional 9,863 shares during the period. 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.