Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) Cut to "Sell" at StockNews.com

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CBSH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Raymond James downgraded Commerce Bancshares from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $68.17.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

CBSH traded down $2.22 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.42. 806,870 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 580,721. The company's fifty day moving average price is $63.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.71. Commerce Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $48.49 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH - Get Free Report) last released 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. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The business had revenue of $422.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.48 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,222. This represents a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of the firm'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 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 approximately $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 78,434 shares of company stock valued at $5,248,272 over the last 90 days. 3.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,327,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,675,031 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $228,991,000 after buying an additional 745,661 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,225,491 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $824,080,000 after buying an additional 642,401 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC now owns 8,566,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $533,777,000 after buying an additional 351,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,286,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,161,000 after acquiring an additional 310,443 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.26% 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.