Gradient Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 5,034 Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 5,034 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $311,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Comerica by 134.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 856,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,309,000 after buying an additional 490,468 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comerica by 158.2% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 20,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,218,000 after acquiring an additional 12,454 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Comerica by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,975,000 after purchasing an additional 226,285 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Comerica by 390.6% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 761,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,628,000 after purchasing an additional 606,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,905,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial raised shares of Comerica to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Comerica from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Comerica from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In other 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 transaction of $95,811.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Comerica Price Performance

Comerica stock opened at $63.26 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Comerica Incorporated has a 1 year low of $45.32 and a 1 year high of $73.45. The company has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.26.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 12.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.57%.

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

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.