Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) Short Interest Down 16.1% in September

by · The Cerbat Gem

Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,350,000 shares, a decrease of 16.1% from the September 15th total of 1,610,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 617,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CBSH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $52.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.71.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Commerce Bancshares

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jonathan M. Kemper sold 19,626 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $1,249,391.16. Following the sale, the director now owns 997,112 shares in the company, valued at $63,476,149.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Commerce Bancshares news, CEO John W. Kemper sold 5,156 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.22, for a total value of $336,274.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 198,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,932,995.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jonathan M. Kemper sold 19,626 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.66, for a total transaction of $1,249,391.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 997,112 shares in the company, valued at $63,476,149.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,612 shares of company stock worth $3,184,609 over the last quarter. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commerce Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 31,425 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,867,000 after buying an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 19,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 0.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 131,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,004 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 5.8% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 6,534 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $388,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 9.6% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 29,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after buying an additional 2,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Commerce Bancshares stock traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $60.29. The stock had a trading volume of 442,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 521,276. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.81. Commerce Bancshares has a twelve month low of $40.91 and a twelve month high of $65.86. The firm has a market cap of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.69, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.74.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.17. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 23.62% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The company had revenue of $414.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $406.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Commerce Bancshares will post 3.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 30.08%.

About Commerce Bancshares

(Get Free Report)

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.

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