Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $73.07 and last traded at $73.07, with a volume of 13383 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $72.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CBSH. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler set a $68.50 target price on Commerce Bancshares and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.79.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.62.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $421.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.85 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 24.15%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.13%.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.78, for a total transaction of $1,853,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,151,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $71,170,189.32. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $124,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 23,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,454,999.63. The trade was a 7.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,219 shares of company stock worth $2,126,803. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,631,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,004,000 after purchasing an additional 259,127 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,509,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,776,000 after purchasing an additional 240,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,069,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,453,000 after purchasing an additional 342,793 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,260,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,339,000 after purchasing an additional 168,550 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 624,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,846,000 after purchasing an additional 3,391 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.