Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Short Interest Up 17.7% in February

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,260,000 shares, a growth of 17.7% from the February 13th total of 5,320,000 shares. Approximately 4.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,450,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Comerica Stock Performance

CMA traded up $0.73 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $59.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,481,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,112,993. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $63.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.42. Comerica has a 52-week low of $45.32 and a 52-week high of $73.45. The company has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 1.23.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 12.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Comerica will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CMA. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial raised Comerica to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Compass Point upped their price target on Comerica from $64.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Comerica from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Comerica from $78.00 to $76.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Comerica currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.29.

Institutional Trading of Comerica

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Comerica by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Comerica in the fourth quarter valued at $4,178,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Comerica by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782 shares during the last quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 4th quarter worth about $224,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Comerica in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,692,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.