Atria Investments Inc Raises Position in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,839 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Community Bank System by 23.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Community Bank System by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 13,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Community Bank System during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,551,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Community Bank System in the third quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Finally, Hilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Community Bank System by 13.9% in the third quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC now owns 38,322 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,225,000 after purchasing an additional 4,676 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank System Trading Up 2.2 %

CBU opened at $57.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 0.66. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.50 and a 12 month high of $73.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $62.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $62.74.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. Community Bank System had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The business had revenue of $196.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is presently 53.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.98, for a total value of $74,953.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $431,443.22. This trade represents a 14.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CBU shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

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.