Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.2857.

CBSH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 price target on Commerce Bancshares and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (up from $61.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Commerce Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 19,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.18, for a total transaction of $1,170,047.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 119,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,066,683.80. This represents a 14.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.20, for a total transaction of $301,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,962 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,368,912.40. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 31,842 shares of company stock valued at $1,897,310 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $755,669,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $85,282,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,830,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,690,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 1,433.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,145,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $59,965,000 after buying an additional 1,070,980 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 0.6%

CBSH stock opened at $59.02 on Wednesday. Commerce Bancshares has a twelve month low of $46.99 and a twelve month high of $60.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.38 and a 200 day moving average of $53.48. The firm has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.59.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $498.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $492.22 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 26.07% and a return on equity of 14.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 26.63%.

Commerce Bancshares Company Profile

Commerce Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company primarily engaged in providing a broad range of banking and financial services across the Midwest. Through its principal subsidiary, Commerce Bank, the company offers commercial and consumer banking, treasury management, trust and wealth advisory, and mortgage lending. Its diversified product suite includes deposit and loan products, cash management solutions, capital markets services, and private banking designed to meet the needs of individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.

The company’s commercial banking group delivers tailored credit facilities, equipment and inventory financing, asset-based lending, and merchant services.