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 first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,940 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,467 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Aristotle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 8,566,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $533,777,000 after buying an additional 351,406 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,286,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $80,161,000 after buying an additional 310,443 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,272,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $141,584,000 after buying an additional 227,052 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $9,858,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 359,482 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $22,399,000 after buying an additional 154,751 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBSH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Commerce Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. 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, Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $68.20.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

CBSH opened at $59.92 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.83 and a 200-day moving average of $62.83. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $52.69 and a 52-week high of $72.75.

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

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 5th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CBSH? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.