DAVENPORT & Co LLC Acquires New Holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,220 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position 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 valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $64,024.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,038 shares in the company, valued at $579,539.80. The trade was a 9.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $1,752,105.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,929 shares in the company, valued at $14,258,583.12. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 74,339 shares of company stock valued at $4,985,251. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ CBSH opened at $67.65 on Monday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $47.09 and a one year high of $72.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.19. The firm has a market cap of $8.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.80.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 26.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on CBSH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.83.

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.