Cerity Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Cerity Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 58.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,095 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 97,809 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Comerica were worth $4,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Comerica by 390.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 761,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,628,000 after purchasing an additional 606,375 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Comerica by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,975,000 after buying an additional 226,285 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC acquired a new position in Comerica during the 3rd quarter worth about $323,000. Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in Comerica during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,630,000. Finally, Factorial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,222,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Comerica Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Comerica stock opened at $72.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 1.22. Comerica Incorporated has a 1 year low of $44.63 and a 1 year high of $73.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.74.

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

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

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend 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 presently 71.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total transaction of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at $997,326.79. This represents a 29.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $65.10.

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.