New England Research & Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

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

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Comerica by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Comerica by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in Comerica by 5.2% in the third quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont raised its stake in Comerica by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CMA. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upgraded Comerica to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America cut shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $80.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.33.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In other Comerica news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Up 2.8 %

NYSE:CMA opened at $65.30 on Thursday. Comerica Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.14. 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 market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.01 and a beta of 1.26.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

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

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership 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.