Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Raymond James currently has $61.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a neutral rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $55.00.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 2.0 %

CBSH opened at $53.07 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.89 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.79. Commerce Bancshares has a 1-year low of $40.91 and a 1-year high of $56.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $51.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.92.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $397.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.49 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.24 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commerce Bancshares news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 730 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.87, for a total value of $40,055.10. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 25,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,294.74. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Commerce Bancshares news, Director Benjamin F. Rassieur III sold 1,785 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.83, for a total value of $96,086.55. Following the transaction, the director now owns 33,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,806,911.61. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 730 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.87, for a total transaction of $40,055.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,399,294.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,321 shares of company stock valued at $752,387 in the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 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.