Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Short Interest Down 5.1% in March

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,050,000 shares, a decrease of 5.1% from the March 15th total of 2,160,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 480,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CBSH shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Commerce Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.17.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $51.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.87. Commerce Bancshares has a 1-year low of $40.91 and a 1-year high of $56.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.02. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 24.41% and a return on equity of 17.46%. The company had revenue of $393.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.34 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 29.75%.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.87, for a total value of $40,055.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,399,294.74. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $30,853.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $403,909.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.87, for a total transaction of $40,055.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,399,294.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,321 shares of company stock worth $752,387 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CBSH. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 16.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 130,936 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,282,000 after buying an additional 18,535 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 417,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $20,011,000 after acquiring an additional 15,508 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $526,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 10.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 147,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,089,000 after purchasing an additional 14,323 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 23.0% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 110,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,322,000 after purchasing an additional 20,737 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Commerce Bancshares Company 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.