HighTower Advisors LLC Has $975,000 Stock Position in Community Financial System, Inc. $CBU

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Community Financial System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 8.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,149 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Community Financial System were worth $975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Community Financial System during the fourth quarter valued at $125,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 19.8% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,798 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Community Financial System during the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Community Financial System during the first quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Community Financial System by 4.9% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 3,950 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Community Financial System Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:CBU opened at $61.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.63 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.14. Community Financial System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $49.44 and a 12 month high of $73.39.

Community Financial System (NYSE:CBU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $199.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.93 million. Community Financial System had a return on equity of 10.71% and a net margin of 19.91%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Community Financial System, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Financial System Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This is a positive change from Community Financial System’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Community Financial System’s dividend payout ratio is 51.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBU has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Community Financial System from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Community Financial System from $69.00 to $67.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Community Financial System currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.00.

About Community Financial 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.