Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 9,362 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 281,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,362 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Commerce Bancshares worth $17,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 37,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,774 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 3,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Centerpoint Advisory Group bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $293,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 357,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $22,266,000 after purchasing an additional 16,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 25,653 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,598,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total value of $914,285.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 86,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman David W. Kemper sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.22, for a total transaction of $311,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 23,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,642,244.50. This trade represents a 15.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 86,054 shares of company stock valued at $5,771,192 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH opened at $64.24 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.02, a P/E/G 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 data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $417.48 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. This is a positive change from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective 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. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Raymond James lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.83.

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.