Fulton Bank N.A. Acquires 1,428 Shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 17.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,506 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the quarter. Fulton Bank N.A.’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Community Bank System by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Community Bank System in the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Community Bank System by 23.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its position in Community Bank System by 51.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the period. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 27.5% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

CBU opened at $60.39 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.13. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 1-year low of $41.50 and a 1-year high of $73.39. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.81 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.35 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,661.30. The trade was a 40.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

About Community Bank System

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.