Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Upgraded at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $67.00 price target on the bank's stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of Community Bank System in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th.

Community Bank System Price Performance

Shares of Community Bank System stock traded up $4.53 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $61.05. 283,834 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 281,984. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.56. Community Bank System has a 52 week low of $38.53 and a 52 week high of $63.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The bank reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $188.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.35 million. Community Bank System had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Community Bank System will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Community Bank System's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Bank System

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Community Bank System in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Community Bank System by 27.5% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 3,436 shares of the bank's stock worth $162,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Community Bank System during the second quarter valued at $212,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Community Bank System in the second quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Community Bank System by 4.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,895 shares of the bank's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Community Bank System Company Profile

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.