Robert W. Baird Increases Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Price Target to $80.00

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) had its price objective upped by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CMA. Stephens raised their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush raised Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com raised Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.43.

Comerica Stock Performance

CMA opened at $67.88 on Monday. Comerica has a 12-month low of $42.55 and a 12-month high of $71.63. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.97 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.35 and a 200-day moving average of $55.92. 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 (NYSE:CMA) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In other news, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. This trade represents a 31.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Christine M. Moore sold 2,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.51, for a total transaction of $146,362.95. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,910 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,605,104.10. This trade represents a 8.36 % 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 90 days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Comerica by 2.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,977,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $301,745,000 after buying an additional 96,084 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Comerica by 5.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,975,000 after purchasing an additional 226,285 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Comerica by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,045,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370,886 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Comerica by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 2,408,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $144,312,000 after acquiring an additional 574,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP boosted its holdings in Comerica by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,230,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,621,000 after purchasing an additional 161,181 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.