Handelsbanken Fonder AB Grows Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring 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.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CBSH. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $142,951,000 after purchasing an additional 163,782 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,468,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,524,000 after purchasing an additional 219,826 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% in the third quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 707,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $42,006,000 after purchasing an additional 106,316 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 474,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,244,000 after purchasing an additional 21,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 7,407.2% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 362,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,556,000 after purchasing an additional 358,066 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH opened at $64.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.67 and a 200 day moving average of $64.47. The company has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.80. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $47.89 and a 52 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. The business had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.48 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.275 per share. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In other Commerce Bancshares news, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total value of $311,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 23,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,642,244.50. This represents a 15.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,258,583.12. The trade was a 10.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,054 shares of company stock valued at $5,771,192 in the last three months. 3.10% of the stock is owned by 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.