Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 940 Shares of Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU)

Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE:CBU) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,410 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 940 shares during the quarter. Laurus Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Community Bank System were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CBU. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Community Bank System during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Community Bank System during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Community Bank System by 82.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Community Bank System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Community Bank System by 121.6% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,212 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.79% of the company’s stock.

Community Bank System Trading Up 3.9 %

CBU opened at $47.41 on Thursday. Community Bank System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.38 and a twelve month high of $55.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.89 and a 200-day moving average of $45.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74 and a beta of 0.65.

Community Bank System (NYSE:CBU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.08). Community Bank System had a net margin of 13.78% and a return on equity of 9.15%. The firm had revenue of $177.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $175.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. Community Bank System’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Community Bank System, Inc. will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Community Bank System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Community Bank System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Community Bank System news, Director Sally A. Steele sold 3,501 shares of Community Bank System stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.76, for a total transaction of $170,708.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,634 shares in the company, valued at $1,639,993.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Sally A. Steele sold 3,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.76, for a total value of $170,708.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 33,634 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,639,993.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark J. Bolus sold 3,631 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $163,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 96,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,336,380. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CBU. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Community Bank System to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Community Bank System in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Community Bank System from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

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, 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.