Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 2.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 523 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Comerica were worth $1,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Comerica during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Comerica by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Comerica by 2,723.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Comerica by 50.2% in the first quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CMA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $51.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comerica has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.10.

Comerica Stock Performance

NYSE:CMA opened at $72.32 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Comerica Incorporated has a 52-week low of $42.55 and a 52-week high of $73.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 18.08 and a beta of 1.22.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.00%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total value of $470,480.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 31.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.