Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Comerica (NYSE:CMA)

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 5,664 call options on the company. This is an increase of 62% compared to the average daily volume of 3,495 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CMA shares. Barclays upped their target price on Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Comerica from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wedbush upgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stephens increased their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In other Comerica news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. This represents a 31.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the third quarter valued at $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Comerica by 19.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the second quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the third quarter valued at $138,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Price Performance

NYSE CMA traded down $0.21 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $62.86. 414,608 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,005,258. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.67. Comerica has a 1-year low of $45.32 and a 1-year high of $73.45. The company has a market cap of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.49 million. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comerica will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is currently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan 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. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.