Short Interest in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Rises By 13.0%

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,780,000 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the May 31st total of 2,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 464,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.77, for a total value of $1,509,003.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 198,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,262,429.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 86.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 842 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 156.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock traded down $0.40 on Wednesday, hitting $55.47. The company had a trading volume of 308,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 471,036. Commerce Bancshares has a twelve month low of $40.91 and a twelve month high of $57.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.12 and a 200-day moving average of $53.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.76.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The business had revenue of $397.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 5th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CBSH. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.71.

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.