Insider Selling: Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Chairman Sells 3,708 Shares of Stock

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Chairman David W. Kemper sold 3,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.16, for a total transaction of $245,321.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,208,311 shares in the company, valued at $79,941,855.76. This represents a 0.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $68.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.16. The company has a market cap of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.80. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.09 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Commerce Bancshares’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on CBSH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James cut Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded 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, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Inceptionr LLC raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 29.1% during the 4th quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 28,389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after buying an additional 6,393 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $10,387,000. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 37,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,822 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,050,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 28,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 3,584 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.