Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a "strong sell" to a "sell", though MarketBeat's consensus among analysts remains a "Hold" with a consensus target price of $59.16.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.96 (beating the $0.94 estimate) while revenue of $475.69M slightly missed estimates, and the stock traded around $50.56 (52-week range: $46.99–$63.19) with a market cap of $7.43B and a P/E of 12.12.
• Insider activity was mixed: the CEO sold 23,397 shares (~$1.26M) while a director bought 2,500 shares, insiders own 1.80% of the stock and institutional investors hold about 70.26%.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a report on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $58.50 target price (up from $56.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.16.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 2.0%

CBSH opened at $50.56 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $50.33 and a 200 day moving average of $51.82. Commerce Bancshares has a 52-week low of $46.99 and a 52-week high of $63.19. The stock has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.60.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $475.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.94 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 26.37%.Commerce Bancshares's revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.98 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares will post 4.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Director Timothy S. Dunn purchased 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $47.71 per share, for a total transaction of $119,275.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $257,777.13. This represents a 86.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John W. Kemper sold 23,397 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.99, for a total value of $1,263,204.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 206,528 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,150,446.72. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 29,477 shares of company stock valued at $1,586,655 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5,922.5% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 501,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,991,000 after purchasing an additional 493,526 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 59.5% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 102,227 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,109,000 after acquiring an additional 38,120 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,972,884 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $237,420,000 after acquiring an additional 202,758 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 86.7% during the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 62,154 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,714,000 after purchasing an additional 28,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 28.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,903,362 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $113,745,000 after purchasing an additional 420,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company primarily engaged in providing a broad range of banking and financial services across the Midwest. Through its principal subsidiary, Commerce Bank, the company offers commercial and consumer banking, treasury management, trust and wealth advisory, and mortgage lending. Its diversified product suite includes deposit and loan products, cash management solutions, capital markets services, and private banking designed to meet the needs of individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.

The company's commercial banking group delivers tailored credit facilities, equipment and inventory financing, asset-based lending, and merchant services.

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