Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 1,063 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,063 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,193,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Adirondack Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CBSH. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Raymond James raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Bank of America started coverage on Commerce Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.66, for a total transaction of $263,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,648,429.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.66, for a total transaction of $263,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,648,429.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David W. Kemper sold 2,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.81, for a total value of $145,824.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,181,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,057,115.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,876 shares of company stock valued at $510,441 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH opened at $55.41 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45 and a beta of 0.79. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $40.91 and a one year high of $56.75. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.30.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted 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 return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 23.33%. The business had revenue of $397.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $389.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 5th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 30.12%.

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.