Brokerages Set Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Target Price at $62.81

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $62.81.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Comerica from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st.

Comerica Price Performance

CMA opened at $70.09 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $61.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.51. Comerica has a 52-week low of $42.55 and a 52-week high of $71.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Comerica will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

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

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 issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total transaction of $410,995.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,326.79. This trade represents a 29.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,123,650. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comerica

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 226,285 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Comerica by 51.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,045,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370,886 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Comerica by 31.3% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 574,516 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Comerica by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,533,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,288,000 after purchasing an additional 130,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of Comerica by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,431,750 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,077,000 after buying an additional 87,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.