Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-two ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $68.33.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CMA shares. Stephens raised their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America lowered Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Comerica from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMA. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in Comerica by 300.0% during the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 428 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new stake in Comerica in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in Comerica by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Comerica during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of CMA stock opened at $63.26 on Friday. Comerica has a 12-month low of $45.32 and a 12-month high of $73.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 12.04%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Comerica will post 5.36 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is 56.57%.

Comerica announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.