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

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.29.

CBSH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $63.00 target price (up from $62.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Commerce Bancshares to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $76.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Robert Holmes sold 5,000 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $3,368,912.40. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Orf sold 642 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.35, for a total transaction of $38,744.70. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 24,962 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,506,456.70. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 32,950 shares of company stock worth $1,963,777 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,328,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $1,016,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,311,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 29.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,943,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,999,000 after purchasing an additional 894,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 39.8% during the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 631,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,078,000 after buying an additional 179,894 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 0.3%

CBSH opened at $55.14 on Thursday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $58.04 and a 200-day moving average of $54.96. The stock has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.60.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $498.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a $0.2750 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 26.63%.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Its principal subsidiary, Commerce Bank, provides banking and financial services to businesses, institutions and individuals through a network of branches and digital channels.

The company’s offerings include commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, treasury and payment services, credit and debit cards, investment services, brokerage, trust administration and wealth management. Commerce also provides specialized services for businesses, including cash management, merchant processing and other payment solutions.

Commerce Bank traces its history to 1865 and primarily serves customers in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Colorado.