Stock Repurchase Program Approved by Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Board of Directors

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, November 5th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CMA shares. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.81.

Comerica Stock Performance

CMA traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $63.26. 1,356,467 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,142,875. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.55 and its 200 day moving average is $54.62. Comerica has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $66.06.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

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 $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.00%.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In other news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total value of $470,480.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,821.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Comerica news, EVP Christine M. Moore sold 2,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.51, for a total transaction of $146,362.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,605,104.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,609 shares of company stock worth $1,027,839 in the last quarter. 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.