Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Price Target Cut to $60.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $70.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on CBSH. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.17.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CBSH traded down $3.82 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $54.91. 163,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 581,223. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.71. Commerce Bancshares has a one year low of $48.49 and a one year high of $72.75. The company’s 50 day moving average is $62.77 and its 200 day moving average is $64.17.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The company 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 business posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total value of $70,696.64. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,513,222. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP John K. Handy sold 2,722 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total transaction of $181,502.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 39,638 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,643,061.84. This trade represents a 6.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CBSH. FMR LLC raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 110,423 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,559,000 after purchasing an additional 14,775 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $513,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 10,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 58,968 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 6,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $316,000. Institutional investors own 70.26% 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.