Traders Purchase Large Volume of Comerica Call Options (NYSE:CMA)

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 5,664 call options on the company. This is an increase of 62% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,495 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Comerica news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Bruce Mitchell sold 7,564 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.20, for a total transaction of $470,480.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,021,821.60. This represents a 31.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,456 shares of company stock valued at $977,287. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Comerica

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMA. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Comerica in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Comerica in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Comerica by 19.7% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Comerica during the second quarter valued at $79,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in Comerica by 400.0% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 2,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:CMA opened at $62.25 on Thursday. Comerica has a 52 week low of $45.32 and a 52 week high of $73.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.26.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.17 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $806.49 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. 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 is presently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial upgraded Comerica to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Comerica from $73.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comerica currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.