Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) Shares Down 4.8% Following Weak Earnings

Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)’s stock price was down 4.8% on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as low as $55.92 and last traded at $56.02. Approximately 74,060 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 282,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $58.85.

The bank reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.88 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $188.94 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.35 million. Community Bank System had a net margin of 15.90% and a return on equity of 8.94%. Community Bank System’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on CBU shares. Raymond James lowered shares of Community Bank System from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Community Bank System in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Community Bank System presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.50.

Institutional Trading of Community Bank System

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Community Bank System by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,596,018 shares of the bank’s stock worth $343,718,000 after acquiring an additional 43,001 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,770,648 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,588,000 after purchasing an additional 142,909 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Community Bank System by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 691,879 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,664,000 after purchasing an additional 44,137 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Community Bank System by 164.9% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 213,167 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,064,000 after purchasing an additional 132,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Community Bank System by 152.9% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 182,397 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,611,000 after purchasing an additional 110,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank System Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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.