Commerce Bancshares, Inc. $CBSH Shares Sold by NFJ Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC reduced its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 1.2%, owning 695,035 shares valued at approximately $43.25 million, making it their 12th largest holding.
• Research analysts have raised target prices for Commerce Bancshares, with Morgan Stanley increasing it from $58.00 to $61.00, and Bank of America from $69.00 to $71.00, while the consensus rating is a "Hold" with an average target price of $68.20.
• Commerce Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 5th, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 26.19%.

NFJ Investment Group LLC lowered its position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 695,035 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,648 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bancshares accounts for about 1.5% of NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. NFJ Investment Group LLC owned 0.52% of Commerce Bancshares worth $43,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 191.0% in the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 451 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 55.0% during the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 651 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 64.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,878 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 739 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on CBSH shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Zacks Research cut Commerce Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered Commerce Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $66.50 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.20.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of CBSH stock traded up $0.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $60.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,026,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,176. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $52.69 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.47, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $62.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.97.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.12. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.01% and a net margin of 26.37%.The company had revenue of $445.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $434.11 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. Commerce Bancshares's revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. Commerce Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.19%.

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.