StockNews.com Downgrades Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) to Sell

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

CBSH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler set a $68.50 price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.07.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CBSH opened at $62.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.23, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $67.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.70. Commerce Bancshares has a 12 month low of $47.09 and a 12 month high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $421.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $412.85 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 24.15% and a return on equity of 15.93%. Analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Commerce Bancshares news, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 1,582 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.54, for a total transaction of $106,848.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,723.86. The trade was a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.78, for a total value of $1,853,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,151,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $71,170,189.32. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,398 shares of company stock worth $2,504,665 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 48.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.