Azora Capital LP Acquires 161,181 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Azora Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,230,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 161,181 shares during the quarter. Comerica accounts for 7.2% of Azora Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Azora Capital LP’s holdings in Comerica were worth $133,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 3rd quarter worth about $197,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Comerica in the third quarter valued at about $383,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in Comerica in the third quarter valued at about $1,150,000. Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Comerica by 687.5% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 140,680 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,428,000 after buying an additional 122,815 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Comerica by 19.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 14,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $844,000 after buying an additional 2,263 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wedbush raised shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Comerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $50.00 to $69.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.10.

Comerica Stock Down 0.1 %

CMA stock opened at $72.25 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06 and a beta of 1.22. Comerica Incorporated has a 52 week low of $44.63 and a 52 week high of $73.45.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is currently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 repurchase 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. This trade represents a 31.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total transaction of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,456 shares of company stock worth $977,287. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.