Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Lowered to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $64.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $66.00.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $59.71.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ CBSH opened at $59.40 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 0.75. Commerce Bancshares has a twelve month low of $40.91 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $62.06 and a 200 day moving average of $57.39.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.17. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 23.62%. The company had revenue of $414.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Commerce Bancshares’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commerce Bancshares news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 5,156 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.22, for a total value of $336,274.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 198,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,932,995.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,535 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.16, for a total value of $100,020.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,722 shares in the company, valued at $177,365.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Kemper sold 5,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.22, for a total transaction of $336,274.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 198,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,932,995.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 49,612 shares of company stock worth $3,184,609 in the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,372,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,816,000 after purchasing an additional 558,017 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,069,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,453,000 after purchasing an additional 342,793 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,509,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,776,000 after buying an additional 240,938 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 168.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 342,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $19,081,000 after buying an additional 214,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,260,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $70,339,000 after purchasing an additional 168,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.