Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 254,869 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 7,160 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.48% of Community Bank System worth $15,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,774 shares of the bank's stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 99.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 478 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,816 shares of the bank's stock worth $105,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 6,763 shares of the bank's stock worth $417,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Community Bank System by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 50,322 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,104,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.79% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Community Bank System in a report on Thursday, December 5th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Community Bank System from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Community Bank System news, SVP Jeffrey M. Levy sold 1,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.89% of the company's stock.

Community Bank System Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CBU stock traded up $0.11 on Friday, hitting $63.23. 325,304 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 210,844. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. Community Bank System, Inc. has a one year low of $41.50 and a one year high of $73.39. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $63.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.67.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $196.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.95 million. Community Bank System had a net margin of 19.40% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The company's revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.76 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Community Bank System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.49%.

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.