Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) was the target of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,650,000 shares, a growth of 22.2% from the September 30th total of 1,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 594,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.82, for a total transaction of $91,230.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,381 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,672.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Commerce Bancshares news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total transaction of $100,020.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,365.52. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.82, for a total transaction of $91,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,543,672.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,366 shares of company stock worth $2,254,028 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% during 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 last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 86.3% during the 1st 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 156.5% in the 2nd 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. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 48.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CBSH shares. Piper Sandler set a $68.50 price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.79.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ CBSH traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $62.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 633,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 529,901. Commerce Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $40.91 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86. The company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.56.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

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.