Bank of Montreal Can Grows Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 76.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,701 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,969 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned approximately 0.05% of Commerce Bancshares worth $3,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% during 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. increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 7.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,509,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $195,776,000 after acquiring an additional 240,938 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $115,453,000 after acquiring an additional 342,793 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,260,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,339,000 after acquiring an additional 168,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 659,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,236,000 after purchasing an additional 41,220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $57.04 on Thursday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $65.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.43. The company has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Jonathan M. Kemper sold 19,626 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total value of $1,249,391.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 997,112 shares in the company, valued at $63,476,149.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Jonathan M. Kemper sold 19,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $1,249,391.16. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 997,112 shares in the company, valued at $63,476,149.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 3,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.75, for a total transaction of $245,726.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,256,471.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,612 shares of company stock worth $3,184,609. 3.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBSH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.71.

Commerce Bancshares 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.