Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys 9,321 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 48,407 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,321 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $3,016,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CBSH. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Commerce Bancshares by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director June Mcallister Fowler sold 1,618 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.72, for a total transaction of $98,244.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $192,786. The trade was a 33.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CBSH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $74.00 to $70.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised Commerce Bancshares from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com raised Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.20.

Commerce Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of CBSH stock opened at $65.45 on Wednesday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $49.97 and a fifty-two week high of $72.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.36.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 16.31% and a net margin of 25.24%. The firm had revenue of $428.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $417.85 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.63%.

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.