Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Shares Sold by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in Comerica during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Comerica during the third quarter valued at $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Comerica by 19.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 2nd quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its position in Comerica by 400.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Comerica news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total transaction of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $997,326.79. This trade represents a 29.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,821.60. This trade represents a 31.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,456 shares of company stock worth $977,287 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Performance

Comerica 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 company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 1.26. Comerica Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.55.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on CMA. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Comerica from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of 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 research 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.68.

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.