DA Davidson Comments on Comerica Incorporated’s Q3 2017 Earnings (NYSE:CMA)

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) – Investment analysts at DA Davidson lifted their Q3 2017 earnings per share estimates for shares of Comerica in a research report issued on Tuesday. DA Davidson analyst G. Tenner now expects that the financial services provider will earn $1.25 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.12. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Comerica’s Q4 2017 earnings at $1.24 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $5.09 EPS.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $776 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $777.08 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 23.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS.

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CMA has been the subject of a number of other reports. FBR & Co raised Comerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 9th. Zacks Investment Research cut Comerica from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank AG boosted their price target on Comerica to $74.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Comerica from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays PLC reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $72.00 price objective (up previously from $69.00) on shares of Comerica in a research report on Saturday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.78.

Shares of Comerica (NYSE CMA) opened at 72.49 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.38. Comerica has a one year low of $43.74 and a one year high of $75.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01 and a beta of 1.48. Comerica also saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 6,733 put options on the company. This is an increase of 1,055% compared to the average daily volume of 583 put options.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMA. TrimTabs Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Comerica during the first quarter valued at approximately $111,000. Exane Derivatives acquired a new position in Comerica during the second quarter valued at approximately $125,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Comerica during the first quarter valued at approximately $127,000. Point72 Asia Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in Comerica by 19.3% in the first quarter. Point72 Asia Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 323 shares during the period. Finally, Genovese Burford & Brothers Wealth & Retirement Plan Management LLC boosted its position in Comerica by 0.3% in the first quarter. Genovese Burford & Brothers Wealth & Retirement Plan Management LLC now owns 2,307 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 8 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.14% of the company’s stock.

In related news, CEO Ralph W. Babb, Jr. sold 83,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.94, for a total value of $5,930,584.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Comerica declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, June 28th that allows the company to repurchase $605.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, June 15th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Comerica’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 13th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Comerica’s payout ratio is 26.00%.

Comerica Company Profile

Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company. The Company’s principal activity is lending to and accepting deposits from businesses and individuals. The Company’s segments include the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, Wealth Management, Finance and Other. The Business Bank serves middle market businesses, multinational corporations and governmental entities by offering various products and services, including commercial loans and lines of credit, deposits, cash management, capital market products, international trade finance, letters of credit, foreign exchange management services and loan syndication services.