Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) Short Interest Down 8.0% in September

Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,260,000 shares, a decrease of 8.0% from the August 31st total of 1,370,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 306,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CBU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Community Bank System in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James downgraded Community Bank System from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBU. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 0.8% in the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 26,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Community Bank System by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,895 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,930 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Community Bank System by 6.2% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,235 shares of the bank’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in Community Bank System by 1.7% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 29,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. 73.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community Bank System Stock Down 2.9 %

CBU traded down $1.70 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.38. 176,653 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 288,906. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $59.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.84. Community Bank System has a twelve month low of $35.38 and a twelve month high of $63.95.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.14. Community Bank System had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $183.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. Community Bank System’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Community Bank System will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Community Bank System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. This is an increase from Community Bank System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is currently 57.86%.

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.