Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Upgraded at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $61.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. They set a neutral rating and a $55.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $55.00.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $53.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.79. Commerce Bancshares has a 52-week low of $40.91 and a 52-week high of $56.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $51.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.92.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 23.33%. The company had revenue of $397.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.49 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. Commerce Bancshares’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 5,000 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.66, for a total transaction of $263,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,648,429.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 5,000 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.66, for a total transaction of $263,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,648,429.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.25, for a total value of $30,853.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 8,038 shares in the company, valued at $403,909.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,321 shares of company stock worth $752,387 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.