Piper Sandler Initiates Coverage on Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU)

Analysts at Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set a “neutral” rating and a $70.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.97% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Community Bank System from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James raised Community Bank System from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.25.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

CBU opened at $68.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $63.91 and a 200-day moving average of $57.06. Community Bank System has a 52-week low of $41.50 and a 52-week high of $73.39.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last announced its quarterly 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). Community Bank System had a net margin of 18.82% and a return on equity of 10.52%. The company had revenue of $188.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Community Bank System will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Community Bank System news, Director John F. Whipple sold 3,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.10, for a total value of $287,794.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,661.30. This trade represents a 40.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Community Bank System

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Community Bank System by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 26,600 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Community Bank System by 1.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 14,930 shares of the bank’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,235 shares of the bank’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

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.