Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 1,807 Shares of Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,807 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Commerce Bancshares were worth $4,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Commerce Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in Commerce Bancshares by 84.0% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 791 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Commerce Bancshares by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of Commerce Bancshares from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered Commerce Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 upped their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Commerce Bancshares from $66.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commerce Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.17.

Insider Activity at Commerce Bancshares

In related news, VP David L. Orf sold 1,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.24, for a total value of $70,696.64. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 22,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,513,222. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kevin G. Barth sold 24,870 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.06, for a total transaction of $1,642,912.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,006,456.66. This represents a 35.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,434 shares of company stock worth $5,248,272. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Commerce Bancshares Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Commerce Bancshares stock opened at $62.15 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.47. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.49 and a 12 month high of $72.75.

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

Commerce Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.275 dividend. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This is a boost from Commerce Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. Commerce Bancshares’s payout ratio is 27.43%.

Commerce Bancshares 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.