Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 6,920 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,920 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. owned about 0.13% of Commerce Bancshares worth $10,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In other news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,719 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.30, for a total value of $115,688.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 18,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,257,702.40. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at $1,513,222. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CBSH shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $62.69 on Thursday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.49 and a 1-year high of $72.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.40 and a 200 day moving average of $64.43. The firm has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The firm had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.48 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a boost 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 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 27.43%.

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.