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

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 12,497 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 139% compared to the average daily volume of 5,234 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CMA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Comerica from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Comerica from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Comerica in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $59.00 target price on the stock. TheStreet raised shares of Comerica from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Comerica from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.67.

Comerica Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE CMA opened at $50.00 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $51.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.13. Comerica has a 52-week low of $28.40 and a 52-week high of $57.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $6.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.76 and a beta of 1.27.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 19th. The financial services provider reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Comerica’s dividend payout ratio is 44.10%.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Comerica by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 203,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,348,000 after buying an additional 31,125 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Comerica in the 4th quarter worth $10,068,000. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Comerica by 3.5% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 678,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,211,000 after purchasing an additional 22,800 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Comerica by 607.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 303,143 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,007,000 after purchasing an additional 260,286 shares during the period. Finally, Pearl River Capital LLC purchased a new position in Comerica in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $636,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.