Zacks Investment Management Raises Stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Zacks Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 4.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Comerica were worth $776,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Comerica during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in Comerica in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Comerica by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in Comerica by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica during the second quarter worth $56,000. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:CMA opened at $67.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.91 and a beta of 1.23. 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $65.79 and a 200 day moving average of $57.73. Comerica Incorporated has a 52 week low of $45.32 and a 52 week high of $73.45.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.00%.

Insider Activity at Comerica

In other Comerica news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total value of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. This represents a 31.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total transaction of $95,811.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at $600,885.90. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,456 shares of company stock worth $977,287 over the last quarter. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush raised shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.27.

Comerica Profile

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.