Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Raises Stock Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,534 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $221,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $312,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 19.9% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 23,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after purchasing an additional 3,937 shares in the last quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.5% during the third quarter. FORVIS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Partners II LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CBSH shares. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a report on Thursday, January 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Raymond James raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $46.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.00.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CBSH opened at $55.44 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.21. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.91 and a 1 year high of $56.75. The company has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 0.79.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.06. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.33% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The firm had revenue of $397.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 5th. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.12%.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, Director Benjamin F. Rassieur III sold 1,785 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.83, for a total transaction of $96,086.55. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,806,911.61. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David W. Kemper sold 2,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.81, for a total transaction of $145,824.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,181,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,057,115.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Benjamin F. Rassieur III sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.83, for a total transaction of $96,086.55. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 33,567 shares in the company, valued at $1,806,911.61. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,661 shares of company stock valued at $606,528 over the last ninety days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Commerce Bancshares Company Profile

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.