Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Price Target Raised to $70.00

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) had its target price raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on CBSH. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.83.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $66.80 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.02. Commerce Bancshares has a 1-year low of $47.09 and a 1-year high of $72.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The company had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.48 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.93%.

Insider Activity

In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP David L. Roller sold 890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total value of $64,320.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 30,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,236,684.23. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 4,500 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total transaction of $311,490.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 23,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,244.50. The trade was a 15.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 36,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,475,680. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter worth $26,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 48.2% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.