Commerce Bancshares (CBSH) Competitors

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) and Western Alliance Bancorporation (NYSE:WAL) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, community ranking, analyst recommendations, earnings and media sentiment.

Is CBSH or WAL a better dividend stock?

Commerce Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $1.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Commerce Bancshares pays out 30.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Western Alliance Bancorporation pays out 21.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Western Alliance Bancorporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Does the media favor CBSH or WAL?

In the previous week, Western Alliance Bancorporation had 3 more articles in the media than Commerce Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 9 mentions for Western Alliance Bancorporation and 6 mentions for Commerce Bancshares. Commerce Bancshares' average media sentiment score of 0.63 beat Western Alliance Bancorporation's score of 0.50 indicating that Commerce Bancshares is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Commerce Bancshares	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Western Alliance Bancorporation	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CBSH or WAL more profitable?

Commerce Bancshares has a net margin of 23.33% compared to Western Alliance Bancorporation's net margin of 16.50%. Commerce Bancshares' return on equity of 16.78% beat Western Alliance Bancorporation's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Commerce Bancshares	23.33%	16.78%	1.49%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	16.50%	14.77%	1.16%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CBSH or WAL?

Western Alliance Bancorporation has higher revenue and earnings than Commerce Bancshares. Western Alliance Bancorporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Commerce Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Commerce Bancshares	$1.95B	3.78	$477.06M	$3.59	15.89
Western Alliance Bancorporation	$4.32B	1.66	$722.40M	$6.86	9.47

Which has more volatility and risk, CBSH or WAL?

Commerce Bancshares has a beta of 0.76, suggesting that its share price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Western Alliance Bancorporation has a beta of 1.47, suggesting that its share price is 47% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer CBSH or WAL?

Commerce Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $55.29, indicating a potential downside of 2.94%. Western Alliance Bancorporation has a consensus target price of $72.47, indicating a potential upside of 11.56%. Given Western Alliance Bancorporation's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Western Alliance Bancorporation is more favorable than Commerce Bancshares.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Commerce Bancshares	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17
Western Alliance Bancorporation	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in CBSH or WAL?

70.3% of Commerce Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.2% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Commerce Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.8% of Western Alliance Bancorporation shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer CBSH or WAL?

Western Alliance Bancorporation received 213 more outperform votes than Commerce Bancshares when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 66.41% of users gave Western Alliance Bancorporation an outperform vote while only 45.67% of users gave Commerce Bancshares an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Commerce Bancshares	Outperform Votes 295 45.67%	Underperform Votes 351 54.33%
Western Alliance Bancorporation	Outperform Votes 508 66.41%	Underperform Votes 257 33.59%

Summary

Western Alliance Bancorporation beats Commerce Bancshares on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.