Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Makes New Investment in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 6,477 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $401,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Comerica by 2.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,977,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,745,000 after purchasing an additional 96,084 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Comerica by 5.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,975,000 after purchasing an additional 226,285 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Comerica by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,481,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,462,000 after purchasing an additional 72,391 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP grew its position in shares of Comerica by 7.8% in the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,230,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,621,000 after purchasing an additional 161,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Comerica by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,555,000 after purchasing an additional 29,661 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

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Comerica from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. 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 report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Comerica in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.57.

Comerica Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE CMA opened at $67.80 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.51 and a beta of 1.25. 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 Incorporated has a 12-month low of $45.32 and a 12-month high of $73.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.57.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comerica announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are usually an indication that the company’s management 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.