Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Cut to “Neutral” at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Comerica (NYSE:CMA) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $71.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, down from their prior price target of $85.00.

CMA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America downgraded Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Compass Point raised their target price on Comerica from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Comerica from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $67.14.

Comerica Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CMA stock opened at $62.25 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.26. Comerica has a 1 year low of $45.32 and a 1 year high of $73.45. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $66.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Comerica will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase 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 buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In other news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total transaction of $410,995.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $997,326.79. This represents a 29.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,456 shares of company stock worth $977,287. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in Comerica during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica during the third quarter worth $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Comerica by 19.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Comerica in the second quarter valued at about $79,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in Comerica during the third quarter worth about $138,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently 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.