Arizona State Retirement System Increases Holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,257 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,822 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $2,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $17,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,362 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,336,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at about $581,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.69, for a total transaction of $67,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 21,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,439,427.85. This represents a 4.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,513,222. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 81,016 shares of company stock worth $5,422,811. Corporate insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ CBSH opened at $60.86 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $64.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.59. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.89 and a 52-week high of $72.75. The company has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CBSH has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.83.

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.