Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Has $144.31 Million Position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,408,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 574,516 shares during the period. Comerica comprises approximately 1.3% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $144,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comerica in the third quarter worth $36,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Comerica in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 2,723.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Comerica by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on CMA shares. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comerica news, EVP Christine M. Moore sold 2,545 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.51, for a total value of $146,362.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,910 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,605,104.10. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the 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 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 a total of 18,001 shares of company stock worth $1,123,650 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Performance

Comerica stock opened at $68.92 on Friday. Comerica Incorporated has a 52-week low of $42.55 and a 52-week high of $71.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $61.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is 71.00%.

Comerica announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication 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.