Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Short Interest Up 13.3% in October

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of 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. Based on an average trading volume of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other Comerica news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 31.53 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. The trade was a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,123,650 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Comerica during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Comerica by 39.3% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Comerica by 2,723.3% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the period. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Comerica by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comerica currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.43.

Comerica Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE CMA traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $69.19. 175,220 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,123,358. The firm has a market cap of $9.10 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick 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 simple moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.70.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Comerica will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.