Simon Quick Advisors LLC Makes New $263,000 Investment in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 4,259 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 valued at $51,309,000 after acquiring an additional 490,468 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 12,454 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comerica by 5.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,975,000 after purchasing an additional 226,285 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 606,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Comerica during the third quarter worth approximately $1,905,000. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Comerica

In other news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of CMA opened at $62.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Comerica Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. The company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.79.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on Comerica in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $64.00 target price for the company. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Compass Point increased their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.33.

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.