Citigroup Inc. Purchases 606,375 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 390.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 761,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 606,375 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $45,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Comerica in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new position in shares of Comerica in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Comerica by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Comerica by 2,723.3% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Comerica by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comerica Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CMA opened at $71.09 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.10 and a 200-day moving average of $56.25. The company has a market capitalization of $9.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Comerica Incorporated has a 52-week low of $42.55 and a 52-week high of $71.63.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.49 million. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is 71.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $997,326.79. The trade was a 29.18 % 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. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total transaction of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush raised Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stephens lifted their price target on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Comerica from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.43.

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.