Douglas Neff Sells 666 Shares of Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Stock

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) SVP Douglas Neff sold 666 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.15, for a total transaction of $38,727.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 11,746 shares in the company, valued at $683,029.90. This represents a 5.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of CBSH stock traded down $0.33 during trading on Monday, hitting $57.71. The company had a trading volume of 929,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,967. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $58.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.97. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $46.99 and a one year high of $60.92.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $498.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $492.22 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 26.07%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CBSH. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up from $61.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial raised Commerce Bancshares to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings raised Commerce Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $63.00 target price on Commerce Bancshares and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.29.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $755,669,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5,296.8% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 9,062,303 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $523,348,000 after purchasing an additional 8,894,384 shares during the period. Commerce Bank bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the second quarter worth $316,010,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $85,282,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $83,328,000. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company primarily engaged in providing a broad range of banking and financial services across the Midwest. Through its principal subsidiary, Commerce Bank, the company offers commercial and consumer banking, treasury management, trust and wealth advisory, and mortgage lending. Its diversified product suite includes deposit and loan products, cash management solutions, capital markets services, and private banking designed to meet the needs of individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.

The company’s commercial banking group delivers tailored credit facilities, equipment and inventory financing, asset-based lending, and merchant services.