UMB Bank n.a. Purchases 634 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 74.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,488 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Comerica by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,977,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,745,000 after purchasing an additional 96,084 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $257,975,000 after buying an additional 226,285 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Comerica by 31.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 574,516 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP boosted its holdings in Comerica by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,230,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,621,000 after acquiring an additional 161,181 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Comerica by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,555,000 after acquiring an additional 29,661 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMA opened at $62.48 on Friday. Comerica Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. 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 cap of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.62 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.79.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comerica declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at $600,885.90. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Comerica from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Comerica from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.33.

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.