PGGM Investments Sells 37,000 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

PGGM Investments lowered its holdings in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 37.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 37,000 shares during the period. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $3,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CBSH. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $71,835,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,372,518 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,816,000 after acquiring an additional 558,017 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 22.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,676,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $89,541,000 after buying an additional 302,630 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 32.4% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 972,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,928,000 after buying an additional 237,703 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 7,222,818 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $385,771,000 after buying an additional 196,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CBSH traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $61.00. The stock had a trading volume of 688,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 769,492. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $57.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.64. The company has a market capitalization of $7.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.52 and a beta of 0.76. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.91 and a fifty-two week high of $65.86.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $414.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $406.88 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.62% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 EPS. Research analysts expect that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.12%.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 5,282 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $343,330.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,815,680. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Commerce Bancshares news, VP David L. Orf sold 2,102 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.83, for a total transaction of $136,272.66. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,240,846.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 5,282 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $343,330.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 89,472 shares in the company, valued at $5,815,680. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 71,362 shares of company stock valued at $4,393,005. 3.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Raymond James upgraded shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $61.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.86.

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.