Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (CBSH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.27 on September 25th

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 28th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 6th will be given a dividend of 0.27 per share by the financial services provider on Monday, September 25th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 5th.

Commerce Bancshares has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 55 consecutive years. Commerce Bancshares has a dividend payout ratio of 31.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Commerce Bancshares to earn $3.35 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.2%.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of CBSH stock opened at $49.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Commerce Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $45.55 and a fifty-two week high of $72.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.87.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $397.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.15 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 28.39% and a return on equity of 19.64%. Commerce Bancshares’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Blackford F. Brauer acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.00 per share, for a total transaction of $265,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,116. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Blackford F. Brauer purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $53.00 per share, for a total transaction of $265,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 23,172 shares in the company, valued at $1,228,116. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Derrick Brooks sold 1,430 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.63, for a total transaction of $75,260.90. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,723.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter worth $42,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter worth $38,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 429.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Middle East FZE acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 69.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 16th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.75.

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.