Wall Street Zen Downgrades Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) to Sell

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Monday.

CBSH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $63.00 target price (up from $62.00) on shares of Commerce Bancshares in a report on Friday. Hovde Group dropped their target price on shares of Commerce Bancshares from $63.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stephens set a $64.00 price target on shares of Commerce Bancshares and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Commerce Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commerce Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.71.

Commerce Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CBSH opened at $59.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. Commerce Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $46.99 and a fifty-two week high of $62.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $54.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.81.

Commerce Bancshares (NASDAQ:CBSH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $498.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $492.22 million. Commerce Bancshares had a return on equity of 14.31% and a net margin of 26.07%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Commerce Bancshares will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CBSH. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $85,282,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commerce Bancshares during the fourth quarter worth about $58,830,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 8.1% in the 4th 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 period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Commerce Bancshares by 1,433.7% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Commerce Bancshares by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,943,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $193,999,000 after acquiring an additional 894,183 shares during the last quarter. 70.26% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Commerce Bancshares News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Commerce Bancshares this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CBSH reported Q2 EPS of $1.10, ahead of the $1.04 consensus, and revenue of $498.91 million versus expectations of $492.22 million, signaling solid operating performance. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Management noted higher net interest income and fee income, which helped offset rising costs and credit loss provisions, suggesting underlying business strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several headlines highlighted that Commerce Bancshares topped second-quarter expectations on stronger margin and loan growth, reinforcing the earnings beat narrative. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a Hold rating and kept its $65 price target, indicating a balanced view after the results rather than a major change in sentiment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Stephens also moved to a Hold view, suggesting the stock may already reflect much of the good news from the quarter. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, year-over-year EPS was slightly lower than last year’s quarter, and some commentary noted valuation concerns tied to excess capital, which may limit upside. Article Title

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.