Kovack Advisors Inc. Makes New $399,000 Investment in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 6,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $399,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,512,000 after buying an additional 9,362 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $200,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $581,000. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,336,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CBSH. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Raymond James downgraded Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $1,752,105.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,929 shares in the company, valued at $14,258,583.12. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total value of $311,490.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 23,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,642,244.50. This represents a 15.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 86,054 shares of company stock worth $5,771,192. 3.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $65.03 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.50. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.89 and a 12 month high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.22, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.80.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.84 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio 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.