Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 27.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,782 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Comerica were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Comerica by 649.7% in the fourth quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 56,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,510,000 after acquiring an additional 49,179 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $426,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Comerica by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 93,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,799,000 after purchasing an additional 20,153 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica during the 4th quarter worth $11,895,000. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Comerica during the fourth quarter worth $548,000. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on CMA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $64.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James decreased their target price on Comerica from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Comerica from $67.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.22.

Comerica Stock Down 0.2%

Comerica stock opened at $58.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.08. Comerica Incorporated has a twelve month low of $45.32 and a twelve month high of $73.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 13.98%. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $839.31 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is 53.69%.

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.