UBS Group AG Buys 27,905 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

UBS Group AG raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH – Get Rating) by 36.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,224 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,905 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned 0.08% of Commerce Bancshares worth $7,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Simmons Bank increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 17,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 8,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 44,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,039,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 287,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,560,000 after acquiring an additional 25,848 shares in the last quarter. 64.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 1.7 %

CBSH opened at $47.95 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37 and a beta of 0.74. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $47.78 and a twelve month high of $72.60. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.04.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $389.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.46 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 29.71% and a return on equity of 19.18%. Commerce Bancshares’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 2nd. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CBSH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $61.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 5th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.17.

Commerce Bancshares Profile

(Get Rating)

Commerce Bancshares, Inc operates as a bank holding company for Commerce Bank. It provides general banking services, such as retail, corporate, investment, trust, and asset management products and services to individuals and businesses. The firm operates through the following business segments: Consumer, Commercial and Wealth.