Wall Street Zen Upgrades Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) to Hold

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Commerce Bancshares from “sell” to “hold,” adding to a mostly cautious analyst view on the stock.
• The broader analyst consensus remains Hold, with one Buy and eight Hold ratings and an average target price of $59.30.
• Commerce Bancshares recently beat quarterly EPS estimates, posting $0.96 per share versus the expected $0.94, though revenue came in slightly below forecasts.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

CBSH has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Hovde Group decreased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $58.50 price objective (up from $56.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $54.00 price objective (up from $53.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.30.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $50.95 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares has a 12-month low of $46.99 and a 12-month high of $63.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.67.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 26.37% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The firm had revenue of $475.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $481.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.98 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy S. Dunn purchased 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $47.71 per share, with a total value of $119,275.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at $257,777.13. This trade represents a 86.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Margaret M. Rowe sold 861 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.69, for a total transaction of $44,505.09. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,742 shares in the company, valued at $296,803.98. This trade represents a 13.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 8.1% during the fourth 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. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,318,898 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $383,071,000 after purchasing an additional 566,853 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 5,660,823 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $296,287,000 after acquiring an additional 369,636 shares during the last quarter. 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 last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 29.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,943,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $193,999,000 after acquiring an additional 894,183 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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