Comerica (NYSE:CMA) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight Rating

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Comerica (NYSE:CMA) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $83.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on CMA. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Comerica from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Comerica in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Comerica in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Comerica in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $72.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Comerica from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.50.

Comerica Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE CMA opened at $80.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $69.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.82. The company has a market capitalization of $10.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 0.96. Comerica has a 12 month low of $48.12 and a 12 month high of $83.22.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $849.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $844.39 million. Comerica had a net margin of 14.92% and a return on equity of 10.92%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Comerica will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Comerica’s payout ratio is presently 54.41%.

Insider Transactions at Comerica

In other news, insider James Mcgregor Carr sold 4,000 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.28, for a total transaction of $269,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,471 shares in the company, valued at $2,251,928.88. The trade was a 10.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 2,100 shares of Comerica stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.03, for a total transaction of $140,763.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,690.72. This trade represents a 18.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Gen Wealth Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica during the first quarter worth about $34,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Comerica during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Comerica by 41.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in Comerica in the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.