Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $73.07 and last traded at $73.07, with a volume of 13383 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $72.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $68.50 target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.79.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $62.24 and its 200 day moving average is $59.62. The company has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.73.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.07. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 24.15% and a return on equity of 15.93%. The company had revenue of $421.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $412.85 million. As a group, analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 3rd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 3rd. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 28.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 30,000 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.78, for a total value of $1,853,400.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,151,994 shares in the company, valued at $71,170,189.32. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John K. Handy sold 1,331 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.80, for a total transaction of $84,917.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 41,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,650,762.40. This trade represents a 3.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,219 shares of company stock valued at $2,126,803 over the last three months. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commerce Bancshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,631,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $672,004,000 after buying an additional 259,127 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,226,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,006,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 181.3% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 17,905 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after buying an additional 11,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 138.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,696,000 after buying an additional 18,496 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

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.