Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.68.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group initiated coverage on Comerica in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “sell” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total transaction of $95,811.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at $600,885.90. The trade was a 13.75 % 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 James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,326.79. This represents a 29.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comerica by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in Comerica by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 5,068 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Comerica by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,478 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Comerica by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 48,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,493,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Comerica by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 48,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comerica Stock Performance

NYSE CMA opened at $61.85 on Wednesday. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $66.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.14. Comerica has a 1 year low of $45.32 and a 1 year high of $73.45. The firm has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 1.23.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Comerica will post 5.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.