Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases Shares of 33,400 Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 33,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,784,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $38,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of CBSH opened at $53.10 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.91 and a twelve month high of $56.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $52.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of 14.81 and a beta of 0.79.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 23.33%. The company had revenue of $397.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 5,000 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,648,429.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Robert S. Holmes sold 5,000 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,648,429.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 25,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,399,294.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,321 shares of company stock worth $752,387. Company insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CBSH. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James raised Commerce Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.00.

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.