Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Has Lowered Expectations for Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Stock Price

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) had its target price cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $74.00 to $70.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the financial services provider's stock.

CBSH has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $66.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $63.20.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 1.6 %

CBSH traded up $0.92 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $59.65. 158,902 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 586,803. The stock's 50-day moving average is $61.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.19. Commerce Bancshares has a 1-year low of $49.97 and a 1-year high of $72.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.86, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.71.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.05. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $428.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.85 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $914,285.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total value of $1,642,912.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,006,456.66. This trade represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $86,327,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $228,991,000 after acquiring an additional 745,661 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $824,080,000 after purchasing an additional 642,401 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 8,566,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $533,777,000 after purchasing an additional 351,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,286,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,161,000 after purchasing an additional 310,443 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

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.