Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Hits New 1-Year High After Dividend Announcement

Shares of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $69.61 and last traded at $69.61, with a volume of 86027 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.28.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. Comerica’s payout ratio is presently 71.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Wedbush upgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.81.

Comerica Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.70.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Comerica Incorporated will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comerica news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,326.79. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Comerica news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $997,326.79. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,609 shares of company stock worth $1,027,839 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,370,886 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Comerica by 1.1% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,834,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $93,621,000 after buying an additional 19,068 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Comerica by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,533,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,288,000 after buying an additional 130,458 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased 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 acquiring an additional 87,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Comerica by 21.0% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 923,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $50,756,000 after acquiring an additional 160,103 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.