Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, a decrease of 7.2% from the November 15th total of 1,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 246,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.7 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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 raised Community Bank System from a "market perform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a $67.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, October 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.25.

Insider Transactions at Community Bank System

In other Community Bank System news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of Community Bank System stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value of $287,794.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,823 shares in the company, valued at $425,661.30. The trade was a 40.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.89% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Community Bank System

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CBU. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Community Bank System during the second quarter worth $76,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank's stock valued at $105,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 51.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 2,360 shares of the bank's stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 27.5% in the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the bank's stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Community Bank System during the third quarter worth about $232,000. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CBU traded up $0.82 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $67.50. The company had a trading volume of 189,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 276,045. Community Bank System has a 1 year low of $41.50 and a 1 year high of $73.39. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $64.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $57.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77 and a beta of 0.65.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 EPS 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Community Bank System will post 3.39 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 Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. Community Bank System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.32%.

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.

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