Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $73.00 and last traded at $72.55, with a volume of 1901 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on CBU shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Community Bank System in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

Community Bank System Stock Down 1.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.84 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.84.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by ($0.05). Community Bank System had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $188.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.38 EPS 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 issued 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 2.62%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Bank System

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Community Bank System by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,770,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,588,000 after purchasing an additional 142,909 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 164.9% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 213,167 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,064,000 after acquiring an additional 132,697 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Community Bank System by 152.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 182,397 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,611,000 after purchasing an additional 110,288 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its stake in Community Bank System by 151.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 127,227 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,388,000 after purchasing an additional 76,703 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners bought a new position in Community Bank System in the 1st quarter worth about $3,558,000. 73.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.