StockNews.com Upgrades Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) to “Hold”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. They set a neutral rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $55.00.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $53.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $52.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.01. Commerce Bancshares has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $56.75. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 23.33%. The company had revenue of $397.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,508 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.79, for a total value of $82,623.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,549,049.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 614 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $30,853.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $403,909.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,508 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.79, for a total value of $82,623.32. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 46,524 shares in the company, valued at $2,549,049.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,321 shares of company stock worth $752,387 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 102,920.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 133,790,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,107,097,000 after buying an additional 133,660,305 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,372,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,816,000 after buying an additional 558,017 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,934,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,003,000 after purchasing an additional 217,024 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 18.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,736,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $376,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 7,222,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $385,771,000 after purchasing an additional 196,431 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commerce Bancshares Company Profile

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.