CENTRAL TRUST Co Purchases 17,845 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 51.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,612 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,845 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $3,278,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 7,407.2% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 362,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,556,000 after purchasing an additional 358,066 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,081,000 after acquiring an additional 214,582 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,951,000 after acquiring an additional 163,782 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% in the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 707,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $42,006,000 after purchasing an additional 106,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth about $6,087,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $66.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.05. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $47.09 and a 1-year high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, SVP David L. Roller sold 890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.27, for a total transaction of $64,320.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 30,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,236,684.23. This represents a 2.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total transaction of $1,642,912.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,456.66. This represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,475,680. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James cut Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.83.

Commerce Bancshares Company Profile

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.