Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Receives $60.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $60.00.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH stock opened at $61.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.64. The stock has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.75. Commerce Bancshares has a 1 year low of $40.91 and a 1 year high of $65.86.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.17. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 23.62%. The business had revenue of $414.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.88 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.97 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commerce Bancshares news, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,331 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $84,917.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 41,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,650,762.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.82, for a total value of $91,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,381 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,672.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $84,917.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 41,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,650,762.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,612 shares of company stock valued at $3,060,149. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth $3,827,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 232,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,432,000 after purchasing an additional 63,266 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $1,176,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,226,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.