Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 8.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,381 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,735 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $1,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 536,844 shares of the bank’s stock worth $27,975,000 after purchasing an additional 65,879 shares during the last quarter. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 57.4% in the 4th quarter. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC now owns 8,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,981 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Community Bank System by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,644 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,129 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton purchased a new position in Community Bank System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $225,000. Finally, Invesco LLC purchased a new position in Community Bank System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $181,000. 73.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dimitar Karaivanov bought 1,000 shares of Community Bank System stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.70 per share, for a total transaction of $43,700.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 16,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $710,780.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dimitar Karaivanov purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $43.70 per share, with a total value of $43,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 16,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $710,780.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sally A. Steele sold 3,501 shares of Community Bank System stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.76, for a total value of $170,708.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,639,993.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBU has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Community Bank System to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Community Bank System from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Community Bank System in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.67.

Community Bank System Stock Down 0.1 %

CBU opened at $44.64 on Friday. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.38 and a 52 week high of $55.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $45.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.66.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.08). Community Bank System had a net margin of 16.59% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $177.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $175.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.60%.

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.