Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Coverage Initiated at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Comerica (NYSE:CMA) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued a sell rating and a $64.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock.

CMA has been the topic of several other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price target on Comerica from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.68.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of CMA stock opened at $60.01 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.62 and a 200 day moving average of $58.31. Comerica has a 1 year low of $45.32 and a 1 year high of $73.45. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.00 and a beta of 1.23.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.49 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.73%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.00%.

Insider Activity at Comerica

In other news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total transaction of $410,995.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,326.79. This represents a 29.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Comerica during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Comerica by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC grew its position in shares of Comerica by 22.4% during the second quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,102 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.