Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) Short Interest Up 5.7% in July

Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,680,000 shares, an increase of 5.7% from the July 15th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 314,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James downgraded Community Bank System from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Insider Activity

In other Community Bank System news, CEO Dimitar Karaivanov bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $43.52 per share, with a total value of $43,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 19,653 shares in the company, valued at $855,298.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Community Bank System

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strs Ohio raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 900.0% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Community Bank System in the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Community Bank System by 40.7% during the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 2,695 shares of the bank’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Community Bank System by 37,162.5% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,981 shares of the bank’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. bought a new stake in Community Bank System in the fourth quarter valued at about $203,000. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Community Bank System Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CBU stock traded up $0.42 on Monday, hitting $59.64. The stock had a trading volume of 165,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 295,919. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.24 and its 200-day moving average is $47.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 0.65. Community Bank System has a 52-week low of $35.38 and a 52-week high of $63.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.81 by $0.14. Community Bank System had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 8.94%. The company had revenue of $183.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $180.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Community Bank System will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Bank System Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This is an increase from Community Bank System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Community Bank System’s payout ratio is currently 57.86%.

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.