Amalgamated Bank Acquires 21,254 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 51.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,254 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Comerica were worth $3,874,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CMA. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,095,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Comerica by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comerica by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 33,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,065,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the 4th quarter worth $1,299,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Comerica by 249.2% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 60,213 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,724,000 after purchasing an additional 42,969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE CMA opened at $64.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a PE ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $64.52 and its 200 day moving average is $63.11. Comerica Incorporated has a twelve month low of $45.32 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 1.09.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is 56.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Comerica to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.