Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 262,245 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 7,376 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.50% of Community Financial System worth $14,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in shares of Community Financial System by 7.4% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 26,478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Community Financial System by 19.8% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,798 shares of the bank’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Community Financial System by 4.3% during the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 29,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Community Financial System by 31.5% during the first quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 8,756 shares of the bank’s stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Community Financial System by 12.5% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the last quarter. 73.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Community Financial System from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

Community Financial System Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE CBU opened at $58.12 on Friday. Community Financial System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.44 and a 1 year high of $73.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.77. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $196.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.13 million. Community Financial System had a net margin of 19.89% and a return on equity of 10.98%. Community Financial System’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Financial System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.46 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Community Financial System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.97%.

Community Financial 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.