Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,650,000 shares, a decline of 14.5% from the April 30th total of 5,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CMA. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Comerica in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Comerica from $67.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Raymond James dropped their price target on Comerica from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stephens cut Comerica from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Comerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.37.

Comerica Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMA opened at $57.44 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Comerica has a 12 month low of $45.32 and a 12 month high of $73.45.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $839.31 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.04% and a net margin of 13.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Comerica will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.69%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Comerica in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Comerica in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Comerica by 41.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Comerica by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in Comerica by 152.0% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.