Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,400 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,372,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBU. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Community Financial System during the fourth quarter worth $38,993,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Community Financial System by 132.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 636,257 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $37,310,000 after buying an additional 363,012 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Community Financial System by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 550,613 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,308,000 after acquiring an additional 40,384 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Community Financial System by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 541,428 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,100,000 after acquiring an additional 16,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Community Financial System by 740.1% during the 4th quarter. Riggs Asset Managment Co. Inc. now owns 401,450 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,059,000 after acquiring an additional 353,663 shares during the period. 73.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Community Financial System from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Community Financial System in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Community Financial System from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Community Financial System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Community Financial System currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Eric Stickels sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.98, for a total transaction of $127,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,021,256.16. This represents a 5.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mark J. Bolus sold 12,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.00, for a total value of $816,797.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 94,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,302,020. The trade was a 11.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.15% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Community Financial System Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE CBU opened at $67.50 on Friday. Community Financial System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.12 and a 52 week high of $69.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $63.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.77.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $213.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $216.36 million. Community Financial System had a net margin of 21.26% and a return on equity of 11.24%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Financial System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Community Financial System’s dividend payout ratio is 45.63%.

Community Financial System Company Profile

Community Financial System (NYSE: CBU) is the bank holding company for Community Bank, National Association, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in DeWitt, New York. Through its principal subsidiary, the company offers a range of banking and financial services designed to meet the needs of both consumer and business clients. Its organizational structure centers on community-based banking operations supported by centralized technology, risk management and administrative functions.

The company’s product offerings include deposit accounts, residential and commercial mortgage loans, commercial and consumer lending, treasury and cash management services, and electronic banking.