Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 4,630 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,630 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $2,135,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth $581,000. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $1,336,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 106,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,353,000 after purchasing an additional 17,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CBSH. Raymond James downgraded Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.55, for a total value of $34,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,265 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,526,265.75. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $914,285.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,844,028.96. The trade was a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,054 shares of company stock valued at $5,771,192 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH stock opened at $64.24 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $64.67 and its 200-day moving average is $64.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.80. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $47.89 and a 1 year high of $72.75.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.43%.

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.