Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Comerica (NYSE:CMA) to “Equal Weight”

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) was upgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $73.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $51.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.92% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Comerica from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Comerica from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $50.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Comerica from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Comerica from $58.00 to $56.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Comerica from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Comerica has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.86.

Comerica Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMA opened at $68.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.89 and a 200 day moving average of $55.67. 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 $9.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.22. Comerica has a 52 week low of $42.55 and a 52 week high of $71.63.

Comerica (NYSE:CMA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $806.49 million. Comerica had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 11.17%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.84 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Comerica will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Comerica announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, November 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase 10,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Comerica news, EVP Allysun C. Fleming sold 1,392 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $600,885.90. This represents a 13.75 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Christine M. Moore sold 2,545 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.51, for a total transaction of $146,362.95. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,910 shares in the company, valued at $1,605,104.10. The trade was a 8.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,123,650 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Comerica

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Comerica by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 223,983 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,315,000 after purchasing an additional 29,640 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Comerica by 3.8% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 9,067 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Comerica by 10.6% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Comerica by 41.6% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 99,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,498,000 after buying an additional 29,366 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Comerica by 99.4% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 15,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $860,000 after buying an additional 7,798 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is 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.