Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Comerica (NYSE:CMA)

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders bought 5,664 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 62% compared to the typical volume of 3,495 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total value of $470,480.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares in the company, valued at $1,021,821.60. The trade was a 31.53 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comerica

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Comerica in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Comerica during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Comerica by 19.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Comerica by 400.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $128,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of CMA opened at $62.59 on Wednesday. Comerica has a one year low of $45.32 and a one year high of $73.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.54 and a 200 day moving average of $59.77.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $806.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Comerica will post 5.37 EPS for the current year.

Comerica declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. Comerica’s payout ratio is currently 71.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America cut shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Wedbush upgraded shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.14.

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.