Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Short Interest Update

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,120,000 shares, a growth of 13.3% from the October 15th total of 4,520,000 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CMA shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Comerica from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Wedbush raised Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stephens upped 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, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comerica has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.43.

Comerica Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CMA traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $68.81. The stock had a trading volume of 242,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,123,622. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. Comerica has a 52 week low of $42.55 and a 52 week high of $71.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day moving average of $55.70. The company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.22.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is 71.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In other Comerica news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 31.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,773 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,123,650. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Comerica during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Comerica during the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Comerica by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Comerica by 2,723.3% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comerica by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.