Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Competitors

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) and Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, community ranking, institutional ownership and earnings.

Is CBSH or WAL a better dividend stock?

Commerce Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Commerce Bancshares pays out 30.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays out 21.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Western Alliance Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media refer more to CBSH or WAL?

In the previous week, Western Alliance Bancorporation had 4 more articles in the media than Commerce Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Western Alliance Bancorporation and 3 mentions for Commerce Bancshares. Western Alliance Bancorporation's average media sentiment score of 0.61 beat Commerce Bancshares' score of 0.54 indicating that Western Alliance Bancorporation is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Commerce Bancshares	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Western Alliance Bancorporation	2 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more volatility & risk, CBSH or WAL?

Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.79, indicating that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a beta of 1.47, indicating that its stock price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in CBSH or WAL?

Western Alliance Bancorporation received 212 more outperform votes than Commerce Bancshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.36% of users gave Western Alliance Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 45.74% of users gave Commerce Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Commerce Bancshares	Outperform Votes 295 45.74%	Underperform Votes 350 54.26%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 507 66.36%	Underperform Votes 257 33.64%

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of CBSH or WAL?

70.3% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Commerce Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CBSH or WAL?

Western Alliance Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than Commerce Bancshares. Western Alliance Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Commerce Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commerce Bancshares	$1.59B	4.54	$477.06M	$3.59	15.53
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$4.32B	1.50	$722.40M	$6.86	8.57

Is CBSH or WAL more profitable?

Commerce Bancshares has a net margin of 23.33% compared to Western Alliance Bancorporation's net margin of 16.50%. Commerce Bancshares' return on equity of 16.78% beat Western Alliance Bancorporation's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commerce Bancshares	23.33%	16.78%	1.49%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	16.50%	14.99%	1.19%

Do analysts rate CBSH or WAL?

Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus target price of $55.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.36%. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $70.56, indicating a potential upside of 20.07%. Given Western Alliance Bancorporation's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Western Alliance Bancorporation is more favorable than Commerce Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerce Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.87

Summary

Western Alliance Bancorporation beats Commerce Bancshares on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.