Hilton Capital Management LLC Buys 3,005 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Hilton Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,005 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $2,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 11,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $689,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Apriem Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 3,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Verde Capital Management boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Verde Capital Management now owns 3,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CBSH. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $58.85 on Friday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.89 and a 12-month high of $72.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.58 and a 200-day moving average of $64.53. The stock has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total value of $1,642,912.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,456.66. The trade was a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.69, for a total transaction of $67,690.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,265 shares in the company, valued at $1,439,427.85. This represents a 4.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 81,016 shares of company stock worth $5,422,811 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares 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.