Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 9,650 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 58.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 6,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,650 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in Comerica during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Comerica by 19.7% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Comerica in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in Comerica by 400.0% during the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In related news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total transaction of $410,995.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at $997,326.79. This represents a 29.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, 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 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287 in the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CMA. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $71.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Evercore ISI upped 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. UBS Group started coverage on Comerica in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Comerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.68.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of CMA stock opened at $62.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.55. Comerica Incorporated has a one year low of $45.32 and a one year high of $73.45. The firm has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 1.26.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.00%.

Comerica Company 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.