Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires New Position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,722 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $668,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,396,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $142,951,000 after purchasing an additional 163,782 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,468,854 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $91,524,000 after purchasing an additional 219,826 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 17.7% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 4.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 391,932 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $24,421,000 after purchasing an additional 29,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH stock opened at $64.82 on Tuesday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.89 and a 12 month high of $72.75. The firm has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.59.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $417.48 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. 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 1.70%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total value of $1,642,912.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,006,456.66. This represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $914,285.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,844,028.96. This trade represents a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 86,016 shares of company stock valued at $5,768,576 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 3.20% of the company’s stock.

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.