Analysts Set Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Price Target at $68.17

Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) have been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.17.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CBSH shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, EVP John K. Handy sold 2,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $181,502.96. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,061.84. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total transaction of $1,642,912.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares in the company, valued at $3,006,456.66. The trade was a 35.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $86,327,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $228,991,000 after acquiring an additional 745,661 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $824,080,000 after acquiring an additional 642,401 shares in the last quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 8,566,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $533,777,000 after acquiring an additional 351,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,286,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $80,161,000 after purchasing an additional 310,443 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of CBSH opened at $55.42 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares has a 52-week low of $48.49 and a 52-week high of $72.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $63.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.38.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

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.