Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $1.95 Million in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. $CBSH

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Commerce Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBSH) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 39,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,953,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CBSH. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Commerce Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at $85,282,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,830,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,690,039 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,098,142 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 1,433.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,145,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,965,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Commerce Bancshares by 37.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,352,406 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $123,125,000 after purchasing an additional 640,928 shares during the period. 70.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CBSH shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (up from $61.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Commerce Bancshares from $60.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Commerce Bancshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $58.00.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

CBSH opened at $57.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.32. The firm has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.60. Commerce Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $46.99 and a 1 year high of $63.19.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $475.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.94 million. Commerce Bancshares had a net margin of 26.37% and a return on equity of 14.78%. Commerce Bancshares’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.98 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Commerce Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

Commerce Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Commerce Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.38%.

About Commerce Bancshares

Commerce Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company primarily engaged in providing a broad range of banking and financial services across the Midwest. Through its principal subsidiary, Commerce Bank, the company offers commercial and consumer banking, treasury management, trust and wealth advisory, and mortgage lending. Its diversified product suite includes deposit and loan products, cash management solutions, capital markets services, and private banking designed to meet the needs of individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.

The company’s commercial banking group delivers tailored credit facilities, equipment and inventory financing, asset-based lending, and merchant services.