Bank of Montreal Can Acquires 22,244 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 274,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,244 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Comerica were worth $16,288,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Comerica by 5.5% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 226,285 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Comerica by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,045,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370,886 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in Comerica by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,408,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,312,000 after purchasing an additional 574,516 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Comerica by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,533,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,288,000 after purchasing an additional 130,458 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of Comerica by 6.5% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,431,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,077,000 after buying an additional 87,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CMA opened at $72.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market cap of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 1.22. Comerica Incorporated has a 12-month low of $44.63 and a 12-month high of $73.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.88.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 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 business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Comerica’s payout ratio is currently 71.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were 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 approximately $1,021,821.60. The trade was 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 valued at $977,287 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Comerica from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Comerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Comerica from $71.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.