Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $66.38, but opened at $63.46. Comerica shares last traded at $63.35, with a volume of 349,073 shares changing hands.

The financial services provider reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.25 by ($0.05). Comerica had a net margin of 11.17% and a return on equity of 12.54%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS.

Comerica Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Comerica’s payout ratio is currently 71.00%.

Comerica declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, November 5th that allows the company to buyback 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CMA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Comerica from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America cut shares of Comerica from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $52.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Comerica from $63.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Comerica from $64.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Comerica presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Comerica news, EVP James Harry Weber sold 6,500 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.23, for a total value of $410,995.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,773 shares in the company, valued at $997,326.79. The trade was a 29.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.83, for a total value of $95,811.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Comerica by 134.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 856,431 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,309,000 after purchasing an additional 490,468 shares during the period. Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Comerica in the second quarter valued at $4,767,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Comerica by 158.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 20,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after buying an additional 12,454 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Comerica by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,306,042 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $257,975,000 after purchasing an additional 226,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Comerica by 390.6% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 761,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,628,000 after buying an additional 606,375 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Comerica Stock Down 5.5 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $65.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.76.

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.