Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Shares Acquired by Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.

Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 235,189 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 10,096 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bancshares accounts for 2.9% of Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Commerce Bancshares worth $14,655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $17,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,362 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth about $1,336,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $824,080,000 after acquiring an additional 642,401 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CBSH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Commerce Bancshares from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Commerce Bancshares from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.20.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ CBSH traded down $0.61 on Friday, hitting $60.76. 175,339 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 587,452. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $61.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.16. The firm has a market cap of $8.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.71. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.97 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The business had revenue of $428.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.85 million. On average, research analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares's payout ratio is presently 26.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 26,042 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $1,752,105.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 211,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,258,583.12. This trade represents a 10.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John K. Handy sold 2,722 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.68, for a total value of $181,502.96. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,638 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,643,061.84. The trade was a 6.43 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 53,564 shares of company stock worth $3,605,360 over the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.