Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $68.17.

CBSH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total value of $70,696.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,513,222. This trade represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total value of $1,642,912.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares in the company, valued at $3,006,456.66. This trade represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,362 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,336,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $581,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH opened at $61.62 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares has a 1 year low of $48.49 and a 1 year high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.43.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

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.