Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,040,000 shares, an increase of 9.8% from the November 15th total of 4,590,000 shares. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Comerica Stock Up 1.2 %

CMA traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $66.58. 3,631,386 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,121,829. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 1.23. Comerica has a 1-year low of $45.32 and a 1-year high of $73.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.01. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.49 million. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Comerica will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is presently 71.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at $997,326.79. This trade represents a 29.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 31.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comerica

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $206,468,000 after acquiring an additional 1,370,886 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC bought a new position in Comerica during the second quarter worth $35,375,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Comerica by 390.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 761,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,628,000 after purchasing an additional 606,375 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Comerica by 31.3% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 574,516 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Comerica by 311.2% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 663,100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,845,000 after purchasing an additional 501,857 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CMA. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. StockNews.com upgraded Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” 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 research report on Monday, October 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $71.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.27.

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.