Vest Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 27,005 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,681,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 28.0% in the first quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 38,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,374,000 after buying an additional 8,347 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 10,160.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 116,868 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,273,000 after buying an additional 115,729 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 119,939 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,750 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the period. Finally, Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 6,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBSH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $66.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.20.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $63.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.85. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.97 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The business had revenue of $428.05 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.85 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.73%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.72, for a total transaction of $98,244.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,175 shares in the company, valued at $192,786. The trade was a 33.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

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.