How to buy Community Bank System stock | $62.93

Community Bank System, Inc is a banks-regional business based in the US. Community Bank System shares (CBU) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Community Bank System employs 2,752 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$575.9 million.

How to buy shares in Community Bank System

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Community Bank System. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: CBU. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Community Bank System reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$62.93, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Community Bank System, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Community Bank System. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Community Bank System share price

Use our graph to track the performance of CBU stocks over time.

Community Bank System shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-12-27.

Latest market close	USD$62.93
52-week range	USD$46.0326 - USD$70.5599
50-day moving average	USD$64.095
200-day moving average	USD$59.0898
Wall St. target price	USD$66.75
PE ratio	20.612
Dividend yield	USD$1.68 (2.68%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$3.039

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Is it a good time to buy Community Bank System stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Community Bank System, Inc by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Community Bank System price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $62.93 from 2020-12-18

1 week (2021-01-08)	-5.65%
1 month (2020-12-16)	-3.66%
3 months (2020-10-15)	9.60%
6 months (2020-07-15)	10.09%

1 year (2020-01-15)	-11.00%
2 years (2019-01-15)	1.57%
3 years (2018-01-12)	13.12%
5 years (2016-01-15)	73.70%

Is Community Bank System under- or over-valued?

Valuing Community Bank System stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Community Bank System's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Community Bank System's P/E ratio

Community Bank System's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 21x. In other words, Community Bank System shares trade at around 21x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Community Bank System's PEG ratio

Community Bank System's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 2.17. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Community Bank System's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Community Bank System financials

Revenue TTM	USD$575.9 million
Operating margin TTM	38.57%
Gross profit TTM	USD$581.4 million
Return on assets TTM	1.27%
Return on equity TTM	8.18%
Profit margin	27.97%
Book value	$39.2
Market capitalisation	USD$3.4 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Community Bank System shares

There are currently 1.6 million Community Bank System shares held short by investors – that's known as Community Bank System's "short interest". This figure is 2% down from 1.6 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Community Bank System shares can be evaluated.

Community Bank System's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Community Bank System's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Community Bank System shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Community Bank System shares traded daily (recently around 192706.23471883). Community Bank System's SIR currently stands at 8.18. In other words for every 100,000 Community Bank System shares traded daily on the market, roughly 8180 shares are currently held short.

However Community Bank System's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Community Bank System shares, or, against the total number of tradable Community Bank System shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Community Bank System's short interest could be expressed as 0.03% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Community Bank System shares in existence, roughly 30 shares are currently held short) or 0.0399% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Community Bank System shares, roughly 40 shares are currently held short).

A SIR below 10% would generally be considered to indicate a fairly optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Community Bank System.

Find out more about how you can short Community Bank System stock.

Community Bank System share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 51.71% of net profits

Recently Community Bank System has paid out, on average, around 51.71% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 2.68% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Community Bank System shareholders could enjoy a 2.68% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Community Bank System's case, that would currently equate to about $1.68 per share.

Community Bank System's payout ratio would broadly be considered high, and as such this stock could appeal to those looking to generate an income. Bear in mind however that companies should normally also look to re-invest a decent amount of net profits to ensure future growth.

Community Bank System's most recent dividend payout was on 11 January 2021. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 11 December 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Community Bank System's shares ever split?

Community Bank System's shares were split on a 2:1 basis on 13 April 2004. So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Community Bank System shares – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower share price could have impacted the market appetite for Community Bank System shares which in turn could have impacted Community Bank System's share price.

Community Bank System share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Community Bank System's shares have ranged in value from as little as $46.0326 up to $70.5599. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Community Bank System's is 0.7517. This would suggest that Community Bank System's shares are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Community Bank System overview

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 checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as time deposits. It also provides loans, including consumer mortgages; general purpose commercial and industrial loans, and mortgages on commercial properties; installment loans that are originated through selected dealerships and are secured by automobiles, marine, and other recreational vehicles; personal installment loans and lines of credit for consumers; and home equity products. In addition, the company offers broker-dealer and investment advisory; asset management; risk management; and employee benefit services, as well as operates as a full-service insurance agency that offers personal and commercial property insurance, and other risk management products. Further, it provides contribution plan administration, collective investment fund, retirement plan administration, fund administration, actuarial and benefits consulting, employee benefit trust, VEBA/HRA, and health and welfare consulting services. Additionally, the company offers wealth management, higher educational planning, fiduciary, and personal financial planning services; and investment alternatives, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and advisory products, as well as transfer agency and master recordkeeping services. As of October 26, 2020, it operated 240 customer facilities in Upstate New York, as well as Northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Western Massachusetts. Community Bank System, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in DeWitt, New York.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Community Bank System is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 1.349% of Community Bank System shares are held by insiders and 72.624% by institutions.

• How many people work for Community Bank System?

  Latest data suggests 2,752 work at Community Bank System.

• When does the fiscal year end for Community Bank System?

  Community Bank System's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Community Bank System based?

  Community Bank System's address is: 5790 Widewaters Parkway, DeWitt, NY, United States, 13214

• What is Community Bank System's ISIN number?

  Community Bank System's international securities identification number is: US2036071064

• What is Community Bank System's CUSIP number?

  Community Bank System's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 203607106