Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Short Interest Update

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a decline of 16.1% from the September 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 617,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 5,282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $343,330.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,815,680. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.23, for a total value of $124,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 23,381 shares in the company, valued at $1,454,999.63. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 5,282 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $343,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,815,680. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,612 shares of company stock worth $3,184,609. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CBSH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,631,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $672,004,000 after purchasing an additional 259,127 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,509,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $195,776,000 after acquiring an additional 240,938 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 19.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,069,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,453,000 after acquiring an additional 342,793 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,260,999 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,339,000 after acquiring an additional 168,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 624,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $34,846,000 after buying an additional 3,391 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of CBSH stock traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $61.66. 901,838 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 523,656. Commerce Bancshares has a 52-week low of $40.91 and a 52-week high of $65.86. The stock has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.92.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.17. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 23.62%. The firm had revenue of $414.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CBSH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.71.

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.