KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Takes $1.62 Million Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 26,015 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 877,808 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,696,000 after acquiring an additional 151,682 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Commerce Bancshares by 25.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $228,991,000 after purchasing an additional 745,661 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 55,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,455,000 after purchasing an additional 2,921 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Capital Management LLC now owns 40,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,534,000 after buying an additional 1,591 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 27,059 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,686,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CBSH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.17.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 1,719 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.30, for a total transaction of $115,688.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,257,702.40. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total value of $1,752,105.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 211,929 shares in the company, valued at $14,258,583.12. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their position. 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 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $61.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.41. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $48.49 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The business 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 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.275 dividend. 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 1.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.