Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Short Interest Update

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, a growth of 9.8% from the November 15th total of 4,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of CMA opened at $66.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.19. Comerica has a twelve month low of $45.32 and a twelve month high of $73.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97.

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

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors 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 yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CMA shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America lowered Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Comerica from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comerica has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.27.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In other news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the 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. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $997,326.79. The trade was 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 worth $977,287 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Comerica in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Comerica in the second quarter valued at $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Comerica by 39.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica during the second quarter worth about $56,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.