Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 818 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Valley National Advisers Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 43.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,047 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 818 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $58,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Comerica by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 203,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,348,000 after acquiring an additional 31,125 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in Comerica by 3.5% in the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 678,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,211,000 after purchasing an additional 22,800 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Comerica by 607.3% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 303,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,007,000 after purchasing an additional 260,286 shares in the last quarter. Pearl River Capital LLC bought a new position in Comerica in the third quarter worth $636,000. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its holdings in Comerica by 21,786.1% in the third quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 165,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,875,000 after purchasing an additional 164,703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Trading Down 5.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CMA opened at $51.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.79. Comerica Incorporated has a 52-week low of $28.40 and a 52-week high of $57.39.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $826.07 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 16.71%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.52%. Comerica’s payout ratio is 44.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comerica news, EVP Wendy Bridges sold 3,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.74, for a total value of $160,013.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,840.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Wendy Bridges sold 3,034 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.74, for a total value of $160,013.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,840.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Cassandra M. Mckinney sold 1,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.64, for a total value of $88,298.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $454,276.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CMA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $70.50 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Argus downgraded Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Comerica in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $59.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective (down previously from $66.00) on shares of Comerica in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Comerica from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.67.

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.