Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Given New $61.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $58.00 to $61.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.80.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 0.9%

CBSH opened at $60.28 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.28. Commerce Bancshares has a 1-year low of $50.60 and a 1-year high of $72.75. The stock has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $428.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.85 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.95% and a return on equity of 16.23%. As a group, research analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.72, for a total value of $98,244.96. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $192,786. This trade represents a 33.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $86,327,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 25.5% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,991,000 after buying an additional 745,661 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $824,080,000 after buying an additional 642,401 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 136.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 848,442 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,799,000 after acquiring an additional 488,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $21,995,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.