Short Interest in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Grows By 17.7%

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,260,000 shares, an increase of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 5,320,000 shares. Approximately 4.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Comerica

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Comerica by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $684,000 after buying an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Comerica in the fourth quarter worth $4,178,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Comerica by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782 shares in the last quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Comerica during the 4th quarter worth about $25,692,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Comerica Trading Down 0.1 %

CMA opened at $59.04 on Friday. Comerica has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.49 and its 200 day moving average is $63.36.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 12.04%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Comerica will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. Comerica’s payout ratio is 56.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Argus upgraded Comerica to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Comerica from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Comerica from $71.00 to $67.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Comerica from $71.00 to $63.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.29.

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.