Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Acquires 2,955 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 19.7% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,955 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $68,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $113,000. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,175 shares in the company, valued at $192,786. This represents a 33.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

CBSH stock opened at $63.70 on Wednesday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $52.27 and a one year high of $72.75. The firm has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.42, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.77.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $428.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.85 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.95% and a return on equity of 16.23%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th were given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.00.

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.