JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Price Target to $70.00

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $73.00 to $70.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

CMA has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $51.00 to $73.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Stephens upped their target price on Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Comerica from $66.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.14.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMA opened at $62.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Comerica has a fifty-two week low of $45.32 and a fifty-two week high of $73.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $66.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.80.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Comerica will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

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

Comerica announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $997,326.79. This represents a 29.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total transaction of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CMA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Comerica by 134.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 856,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,309,000 after buying an additional 490,468 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the 2nd quarter valued at about $4,767,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Comerica by 158.2% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 20,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 12,454 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Comerica by 5.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $257,975,000 after purchasing an additional 226,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Comerica by 390.6% during 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. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.