Short Interest in Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Rises By 9.8%

by · The Markets Daily

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of 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. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Comerica Price Performance

CMA opened at $66.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 1.23. Comerica has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $66.44 and a 200 day moving average of $58.19.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The firm 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total transaction of $95,811.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $600,885.90. This trade represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at $997,326.79. This represents a 29.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,456 shares of company stock worth $977,287 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Comerica in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in Comerica during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Comerica by 39.3% during the 2nd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Comerica during the second quarter valued at about $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Comerica from $56.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note 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 research note on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Comerica from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Comerica from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $67.27.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Comerica

About Comerica

(Get Free Report)

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.

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