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

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 12,497 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 139% compared to the average volume of 5,234 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Comerica from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $64.00 target price on shares of Comerica in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Comerica from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $59.00 target price (down previously from $66.00) on shares of Comerica in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Comerica from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Comerica

In other news, EVP Cassandra M. Mckinney sold 1,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.64, for a total value of $88,298.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,314 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $454,276.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Comerica news, EVP Wendy Bridges sold 3,034 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.74, for a total value of $160,013.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,460 shares in the company, valued at $920,840.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Cassandra M. Mckinney sold 1,616 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.64, for a total value of $88,298.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,314 shares in the company, valued at approximately $454,276.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMA. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Comerica by 1,192.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,878,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $168,405,000 after acquiring an additional 3,578,355 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Comerica during the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,763,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,313,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $578,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,951 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new stake in Comerica in the 4th quarter valued at $63,548,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Comerica by 129.3% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,930,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $107,716,000 after buying an additional 1,088,330 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of Comerica stock opened at $49.82 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.14. Comerica has a 1-year low of $28.40 and a 1-year high of $57.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.74 and a beta of 1.27.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $826.07 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 19.41% and a net margin of 16.71%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Comerica will post 5.09 EPS for the current year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.10%.

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.