UPDATE: Jefferies Reiterates Hold Rating, Raises PT on Commerce Bancshares Following CFO Meeting

In a report published Tuesday, Jefferies analyst Emlen Harmon reiterated a Hold rating on

, and raised the price target from $41.00 to $44.00. In the report, Jefferies noted, “We recently met with CBSH CFO Chuck Kim to discuss business trends and the operating environment. It sounds like the company is finding stability on NII as improving loan growth reverses negative asset mix shift, though it could be hard to generate overall NII growth given NIM pressure. Our '13 EPS estimate goes to $2.85 (from $2.80) and '14 goes to $2.90 (from $2.85) as we build in the Summit acquisition and higher loan growth.” Commerce Bancshares closed on Monday at $44.50.