Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Shares Sold by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 48.5% in the first quarter, now holding 24,940 shares valued at approximately $1.55 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Commerce Bancshares, with Invesco Ltd. boosting its holdings by 75.6% during the fourth quarter.
• Commerce Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.275 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 1.8% as of the next pay date on September 23rd.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 48.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,467 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 76,597 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,773,000 after acquiring an additional 10,305 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 17,574 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,921 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 28.5% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $940,000 after acquiring an additional 3,344 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 161,740 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $10,078,000 after acquiring an additional 4,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 64,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,017,000 after acquiring an additional 17,003 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 1.0%

CBSH traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $60.45. 174,438 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 647,757. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $62.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.61. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.69 and a 1-year high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $445.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $434.11 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.02 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Commerce Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.20.

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.