Insider Selling: Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Director Sells 1,535 Shares of Stock

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,535 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total transaction of $100,020.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,365.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $61.00 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.99, a PEG ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $57.30 and its 200-day moving average is $54.68. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.91 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $414.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $406.88 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.62% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 30.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 28,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,356 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,334 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $303,000. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 34,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,094,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,436,000 after acquiring an additional 68,245 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on CBSH shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.86.

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.