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

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders acquired 284,890 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 6,188% compared to the average volume of 4,531 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. United Community Bank bought a new position in shares of Comerica in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Comerica during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc bought a new position in Comerica in the 1st quarter worth $34,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Comerica during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in Comerica by 41.2% during the third quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 514 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI set a $88.00 price objective on Comerica and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $93.00 target price (up from $73.00) on shares of Comerica in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Comerica from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Piper Sandler set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Comerica and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Comerica in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “hold” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.26.

Comerica Stock Down 0.5%

CMA traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $89.47. 1,304,641 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,045,841. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.59. Comerica has a one year low of $48.12 and a one year high of $90.44.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The financial services provider reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $824.00 million during the quarter. Comerica had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 10.69%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.20%.

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.