Quest Partners LLC Has $221,000 Position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Quest Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,688 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 21,875 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Comerica were worth $221,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Comerica during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Comerica by 39.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Comerica by 2,723.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Comerica by 50.2% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wedbush raised Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,885.90. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the business’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,821.60. This trade represents 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of CMA opened at $72.32 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.52. The company has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12 and a beta of 1.22. Comerica Incorporated has a twelve month low of $42.55 and a twelve month high of $73.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its 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. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.00%.

Comerica announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan 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. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.