Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Stock Price

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) had its price target lowered by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $82.00 to $77.00 in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Stephens upped their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised shares of Comerica to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Comerica in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “sell” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $68.33.

Comerica Trading Up 1.2 %

CMA stock opened at $63.26 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Comerica has a twelve month low of $45.32 and a twelve month high of $73.45.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 13.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comerica will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is presently 56.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMA. State Street Corp increased its stake in Comerica by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,977,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $301,745,000 after purchasing an additional 96,084 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Comerica by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,975,000 after acquiring an additional 226,285 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Comerica by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,408,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $144,312,000 after acquiring an additional 574,516 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP lifted its position in Comerica by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,230,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,621,000 after acquiring an additional 161,181 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Comerica by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,111,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,555,000 after purchasing an additional 29,661 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.