Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.05), Zacks reports. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of CMA stock opened at $62.73 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.68 and a beta of 1.26. Comerica has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $65.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.78.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is presently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CMA. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Comerica in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “sell” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America downgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.71.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In other Comerica news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Company 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.