111,572 Shares in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Purchased by Proficio Capital Partners LLC

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 111,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,901,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CMA. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its holdings in Comerica by 300.0% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the period. Luken Investment Analytics LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 36.7% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Comerica from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Comerica in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “sell” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Argus upgraded Comerica to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Comerica from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comerica has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.57.

Comerica Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of CMA opened at $62.66 on Tuesday. Comerica Incorporated has a one year low of $45.32 and a one year high of $73.45. The company has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.28.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 12.04%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.53%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

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

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.