Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Lifted to Outperform at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has $61.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

CBSH has been the subject of several other reports. Bank of America began coverage on Commerce Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a neutral rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $55.00.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $53.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.98. 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 Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $397.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.49 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 23.33%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,508 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.79, for a total value of $82,623.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,549,049.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,508 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.79, for a total value of $82,623.32. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,549,049.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Benjamin F. Rassieur III sold 1,785 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.83, for a total value of $96,086.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 33,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,806,911.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 14,321 shares of company stock worth $752,387. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 47,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $475,000. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 29,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,547,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 93.1% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $270,000. 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.