Trust Co. of Vermont Makes New $718,000 Investment in Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 10,691 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $718,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in Community Financial System during the second quarter worth about $36,523,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Community Financial System in the 2nd quarter valued at about $300,000. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Community Financial System by 79.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 41,188 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after buying an additional 18,215 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 11,817 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Community Financial System during the 2nd quarter valued at about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Community Financial System

In other Community Financial System news, Director Mark J. Bolus sold 12,191 shares of Community Financial System stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total transaction of $816,797.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 94,060 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,302,020. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric Stickels sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $127,960.00. Following the sale, the director owned 31,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,021,256.16. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CBU. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Community Financial System from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Community Financial System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Community Financial System from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Community Financial System from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Community Financial System in a report on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.50.

Community Financial System Price Performance

CBU stock opened at $64.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.96 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.42. Community Financial System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $53.46 and a 12-month high of $71.11.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.18 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $218.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $221.77 million. Community Financial System had a return on equity of 11.47% and a net margin of 21.79%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.6 EPS for the current year.

Community Financial System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Community Financial System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Community Financial System’s payout ratio is 45.48%.

About Community Financial System

Community Financial System (NYSE: CBU) is the bank holding company for Community Bank, National Association, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in DeWitt, New York. Through its principal subsidiary, the company offers a range of banking and financial services designed to meet the needs of both consumer and business clients. Its organizational structure centers on community-based banking operations supported by centralized technology, risk management and administrative functions.

The company’s product offerings include deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgage loans, commercial and consumer lending, treasury and cash management services, and electronic banking.