First Financial Bank Trust Division Invests $209,000 in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

First Financial Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 51.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $39,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 0.9 %

CBSH traded down $0.56 on Thursday, reaching $61.75. The stock had a trading volume of 400,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 552,904. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.49 and a 200-day moving average of $62.70. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.09 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.77.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.07. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 15.93% and a net margin of 24.15%. The company had revenue of $421.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.85 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 3rd. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Douglas D. Neff sold 888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.10, for a total value of $64,024.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $579,539.80. This represents a 9.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Patricia R. Kellerhals sold 500 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.55, for a total transaction of $34,275.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 22,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,526,265.75. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,398 shares of company stock valued at $2,504,665 over the last 90 days. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com cut Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler set a $68.50 price objective on Commerce Bancshares and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley cut Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.07.

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.