Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Comerica (NYSE:CMA) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $73.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $51.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on CMA. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush raised Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stephens lifted their price target on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.86.

Comerica Price Performance

NYSE:CMA traded down $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $68.92. 2,007,358 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,132,349. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $61.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.22. Comerica has a one year low of $42.55 and a one year high of $71.63.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Comerica will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Comerica announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is 71.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 31.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,123,650. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 223,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,315,000 after acquiring an additional 29,640 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of Comerica by 3.8% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $499,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Comerica by 10.6% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Comerica by 41.6% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 99,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,498,000 after buying an additional 29,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Comerica by 99.4% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $860,000 after acquiring an additional 7,798 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.