Victory Capital Management Inc. Acquires 9,016 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 40.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,347 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,016 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $1,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Comerica by 186.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 32,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,643,000 after buying an additional 20,974 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Comerica by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 369,415 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,855,000 after acquiring an additional 91,626 shares during the period. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the 2nd quarter valued at $837,000. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Comerica by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 326,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,659,000 after purchasing an additional 5,649 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in shares of Comerica in the 2nd quarter worth $2,431,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Christine M. Moore sold 2,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.51, for a total value of $146,362.95. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,605,104.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on CMA. StockNews.com raised Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James upgraded shares of Comerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $62.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Comerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Comerica from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.73.

Comerica Stock Up 2.1 %

NYSE:CMA opened at $59.72 on Thursday. Comerica Incorporated has a twelve month low of $37.40 and a twelve month high of $60.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 1.23.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $812.79 million. Comerica had a net margin of 12.15% and a return on equity of 15.01%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is currently 56.46%.

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.