Head-To-Head Contrast: Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Profitability

This table compares JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Commerce Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	21.86%	18.23%	1.33%
Commerce Bancshares	26.07%	14.31%	1.71%

Dividends

JPMorgan Chase & Co. pays an annual dividend of $6.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Commerce Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. JPMorgan Chase & Co. pays out 28.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Commerce Bancshares pays out 26.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and Commerce Bancshares has raised its dividend for 58 consecutive years. Commerce Bancshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Commerce Bancshares”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$280.35 billion	3.12	$57.05 billion	$23.34	14.12
Commerce Bancshares	$2.14 billion	3.62	$566.25 million	$4.13	13.05

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has higher revenue and earnings than Commerce Bancshares. Commerce Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than JPMorgan Chase & Co., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.6% of JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.3% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of JPMorgan Chase & Co. shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Commerce Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	0	12	16	0	2.57
Commerce Bancshares	0	7	3	0	2.30

JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a consensus target price of $363.08, indicating a potential upside of 10.19%. Commerce Bancshares has a consensus target price of $64.29, indicating a potential upside of 19.25%. Given Commerce Bancshares’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Commerce Bancshares is more favorable than JPMorgan Chase & Co..

Volatility & Risk

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

JPMorgan Chase & Co. beats Commerce Bancshares on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of financial and investment banking services. It focuses on investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. It operates through the following segments: Consumer and Community Banking (CCB), Commercial and Investment Bank (CIB), Asset and Wealth Management (AWM), and Corporate. The CCB segment originates and services mortgage loans. The CIB segment makes markets and services clients across fixed income, foreign exchange, equities, and commodities. The AWM segment provides initial capital investments in products such as mutual funds and capital invested alongside third-party investors. The Corporate segment manages its liquidity, funding, capital, structural interest rate, and foreign exchange risks. The company was founded in 1799 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Commerce Bank that provides retail, mortgage banking, corporate, investment, trust, and asset management products and services to individuals and businesses in the United States. It operates through three segments: Consumer, Commercial, and Wealth. The Consumer segment offers various banking products and services, including consumer deposits; consumer loans, such as automobile, motorcycle, marine, tractor/trailer, recreational vehicle, fixed rate and revolving home equity, and other consumer loans; patient health care financing; real estate loans; indirect and other consumer financing; retail branch network; personal mortgage banking; consumer installment lending; and consumer debit and credit bank cards. The Commercial segment provides corporate lending, leasing, international, merchant and commercial bank card, and securities safekeeping and bond accounting services; and business products, government deposits, and related commercial cash management services, as well as sells fixed income securities to correspondent banks, corporations, public institutions, municipalities, and individuals. The Wealth segment provides traditional trust and estate planning, advisory and discretionary investment portfolio management, and brokerage services, as well as private banking accounts. The company also offers private equity investment, securities brokerage, insurance agency, specialty lending, and leasing services, as well as online and mobile banking services. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri.