Equity Investment Corp Takes Position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Equity Investment Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Comerica in the third quarter worth $36,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Comerica in the second quarter worth $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Comerica by 39.3% in the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Comerica by 2,723.3% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Comerica by 50.2% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comerica Stock Performance

NYSE:CMA opened at $68.92 on Monday. Comerica Incorporated has a 12-month low of $42.55 and a 12-month high of $71.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.70.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.00%.

Comerica announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CMA. Bank of America cut shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Comerica from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christine M. Moore sold 2,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.51, for a total transaction of $146,362.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,910 shares in the company, valued at $1,605,104.10. This represents a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,123,650 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

About Comerica

Comerica Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services. The company operates through Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, Wealth Management, and Finance segments. The Commercial Bank segment offers various products and services, including commercial loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, payment solutions, card services, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services, and loan syndication services for small and middle market businesses, multinational corporations, and governmental entities.