Norges Bank Takes Position in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 563,857 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $34,779,000. Norges Bank owned about 1.07% of Community Bank System at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CBU. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Community Bank System by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,208,859 shares of the bank’s stock worth $70,212,000 after acquiring an additional 8,751 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 661,317 shares of the bank’s stock worth $40,790,000 after purchasing an additional 8,326 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Community Bank System by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 565,920 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,906,000 after purchasing an additional 34,143 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 210.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 348,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,490,000 after purchasing an additional 236,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Community Bank System by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 254,869 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,720,000 after buying an additional 7,160 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank System Price Performance

Shares of CBU opened at $51.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 0.66. Community Bank System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.50 and a 1 year high of $73.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $61.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Community Bank System’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Community Bank System news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.98, for a total value of $74,953.28. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,539 shares in the company, valued at $431,443.22. This represents a 14.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.