Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires 10,064 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 20.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 60,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,064 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $3,750,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 281,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $17,512,000 after buying an additional 9,362 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $566,000. Procyon Advisors LLC bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth $1,336,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $581,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.26% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH opened at $62.63 on Tuesday. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $48.49 and a 1 year high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $8.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $64.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.43.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $422.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $417.48 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 25.24% and a return on equity of 16.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.94 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is an increase from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total transaction of $70,696.64. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Charles G. Kim sold 13,493 shares of Commerce Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.76, for a total transaction of $914,285.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,844,028.96. This represents a 13.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272. 3.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CBSH shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Commerce Bancshares from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Commerce Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.17.

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.