Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Shares Sold by Phocas Financial Corp.

Phocas Financial Corp. lessened its stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 85.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,605 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 111,047 shares during the quarter. Phocas Financial Corp.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $1,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PL Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Comerica by 6,085.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,778,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,749,438 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 390.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 761,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,628,000 after acquiring an additional 606,375 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 574,516 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Comerica by 134.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 856,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,309,000 after purchasing an additional 490,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in Comerica in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,630,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMA opened at $64.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $64.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $63.03. Comerica Incorporated has a 1-year low of $45.32 and a 1-year high of $73.45. 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 company has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 1.25.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 13.98%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Comerica announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on CMA. Argus upgraded Comerica to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Comerica in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “sell” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Comerica presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.57.

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.