Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 4,429 Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund decreased its holdings in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,429 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Comerica were worth $1,658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. PL Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Comerica by 6,085.0% during the fourth quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,778,188 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $109,981,000 after buying an additional 1,749,438 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Comerica by 51.4% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 62,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,874,000 after buying an additional 21,254 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in Comerica during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,095,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Comerica by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 33,393 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 1,598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Trading Up 1.2 %

CMA opened at $64.30 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $64.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.11. The company has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 1.25. Comerica Incorporated has a 52 week low of $45.32 and a 52 week 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 12.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

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

Comerica announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Comerica from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Comerica from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Comerica from $76.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Compass Point upped their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Three investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.57.

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.