Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Stock Price Up 2.7% After Earnings Beat

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)’s share price traded up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $52.62 and last traded at $52.59. 132,033 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 473,841 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.23.

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 return on equity of 17.46% and a net margin of 24.41%. The business had revenue of $397.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on CBSH shares. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Finally, Bank of America started 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.87, for a total transaction of $40,055.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,294.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,508 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.79, for a total value of $82,623.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 46,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,549,049.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.87, for a total value of $40,055.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 25,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,294.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,321 shares of company stock valued at $752,387. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 102,920.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 133,790,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,107,097,000 after buying an additional 133,660,305 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,372,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $660,816,000 after buying an additional 558,017 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,934,079 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $638,003,000 after buying an additional 217,024 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,736,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $376,761,000 after buying an additional 1,227,825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 7,222,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $385,771,000 after buying an additional 196,431 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.33 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $51.92 and a 200-day moving average of $50.90.

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.