New England Research & Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 12,675 Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

New England Research & Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 12,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $784,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citigroup Inc. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Comerica by 31.3% during the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,408,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,312,000 after purchasing an additional 574,516 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Comerica by 134.0% during the third 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. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in Comerica in the third quarter worth about $26,630,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Comerica in the third quarter worth about $16,272,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Comerica Trading Up 2.8 %

Comerica stock opened at $65.30 on Thursday. Comerica Incorporated has a 52 week low of $45.32 and a 52 week high of $73.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 1.26.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (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 in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Comerica from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Comerica from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised Comerica to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, DA Davidson decreased 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.