Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Cut to Neutral at The Goldman Sachs Group

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) was downgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $71.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $85.00. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.06% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on CMA. Bank of America lowered Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Compass Point boosted their price target on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.14.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of CMA stock opened at $62.25 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.79. Comerica has a 12 month low of $45.32 and a 12 month high of $73.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Comerica announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In other Comerica news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $997,326.79. This trade represents a 29.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Comerica

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in 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. raised its position in shares of Comerica by 5.5% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 226,285 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,045,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370,886 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Comerica by 31.3% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,408,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,312,000 after acquiring an additional 574,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its stake in Comerica by 7.8% during the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,230,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,621,000 after purchasing an additional 161,181 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.