Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 413,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87,310 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comerica were worth $24,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,885.90. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 31.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,123,650 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush upgraded shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Comerica from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.43.

Comerica Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Comerica stock opened at $68.28 on Tuesday. Comerica Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $42.55 and a fifty-two week high of $71.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $62.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.82. 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 cap of $8.98 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 1.22.

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

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

Comerica Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.00%.

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.