John W. Kemper Sells 26,042 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Stock

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $1,752,105.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,258,583.12. This represents a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $68.59 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $47.09 and a one year high of $72.75. The company has a 50 day moving average of $65.49 and a 200-day moving average of $64.16. The stock has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 EPS. Commerce Bancshares’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 26.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CBSH. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $581,000. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,336,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 19.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 106,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,353,000 after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.