Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CMA. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Comerica by 39.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Comerica by 5.2% during the third quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Comerica by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its position in Comerica by 1.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 48,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total value of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. This represents a 31.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.68.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of CMA stock opened at $61.77 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.23. 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 1 year low of $45.32 and a 1 year high of $73.45.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica declared that its board 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 reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.