Comerica Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:CMA)

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 12,497 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 139% compared to the typical volume of 5,234 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CMA shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Comerica from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Comerica from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Comerica from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Comerica from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Comerica from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.67.

Comerica Stock Down 1.7 %

CMA opened at $50.00 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.13. Comerica has a 1-year low of $28.40 and a 1-year high of $57.39. The stock has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.08. Comerica had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 16.71%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $826.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Comerica’s payout ratio is presently 44.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Cassandra M. Mckinney sold 1,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.64, for a total transaction of $88,298.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $454,276.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Wendy Bridges sold 3,034 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.74, for a total value of $160,013.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,460 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $920,840.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Cassandra M. Mckinney sold 1,616 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.64, for a total value of $88,298.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $454,276.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Comerica

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Comerica by 1,192.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,878,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $168,405,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578,355 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $113,763,000. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Comerica by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,313,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $578,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,951 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in Comerica during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,548,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Comerica by 129.3% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,930,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,716,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,330 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.