Commerce Bancshares, Inc. $CBSH Shares Acquired by Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.

Key Points

• Speece Thorson Capital boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 53.4% to 357,936 shares, making CBSH its third-largest holding and contributing to institutional investors owning about 70.26% of the company.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently, offloading 29,477 shares worth roughly $1.59 million over the past three months, while insiders still own about 1.80% of the stock.
• Commerce Bancshares beat quarterly EPS estimates at $0.96, reported revenue up 11.1% year-over-year, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.275 (annualized $1.10) for a ~2.2% yield.

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 53.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 357,936 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 124,671 shares during the period. Commerce Bancshares accounts for about 4.1% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Commerce Bancshares worth $18,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CBSH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,690,039 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $768,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098,142 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,245,068 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $74,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,331 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5,922.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 501,859 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,991,000 after purchasing an additional 493,526 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,313,453 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $78,492,000 after purchasing an additional 475,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 28.3% in the 3rd 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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, SVP Kim L. Jakovich sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.45, for a total value of $48,826.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 12,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $655,524.45. This represents a 6.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP David L. Roller sold 2,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.32, for a total transaction of $111,545.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 28,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,542,707.56. This trade represents a 6.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 29,477 shares of company stock valued at $1,586,655 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $50.56 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.60. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $46.99 and a 52 week high of $63.19.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS 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 net margin of 26.37% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Commerce Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBSH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $65.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised Commerce Bancshares from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.16.

Commerce Bancshares Company Profile

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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