HighTower Advisors LLC Has $2.45 Million Position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,590 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Comerica were worth $2,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CMA. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Comerica during the first quarter worth approximately $259,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Comerica by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,659 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,262,000 after acquiring an additional 62,269 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Comerica by 356.5% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,203 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Comerica by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,834,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,621,000 after purchasing an additional 19,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Comerica by 10.5% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 71,757 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Comerica from $71.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comerica presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.27.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In other news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total value of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. This trade represents a 31.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,326.79. The trade was a 29.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,456 shares of company stock worth $977,287. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Performance

NYSE CMA opened at $66.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Incorporated has a twelve month low of $45.32 and a twelve month high of $73.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.96.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Comerica’s payout ratio is 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership 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.