Comerica Rewards Shareholders With New Share Repurchase Plan

Comerica Incorporated’s CMA board has approved an additional share repurchase authorization of up to 10 million shares of its outstanding common stock, with no expiration date. This new authorization is in addition to the five million shares available as of Sept. 30, 2024, under the prior share repurchase program. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Comerica plans to repurchase approximately $100 million worth of shares as part of its repurchase program.Comerica’s Consistent Quarterly Dividend PayoutThe bank also announced a quarterly cash dividend of 71 cents per share. The dividend will be paid out on Jan. 1, 2025, to its shareholders of record as of Dec. 13, 2024. In February 2023, the company hiked its quarterly dividend by 4.4% to 71 cents per share. It has increased its dividend payout twice in the past five years and has a payout ratio of 50%. Considering yesterday’s closing price of $63.28, CMA’s dividend yield is currently pinned at 4.49% compared with the industry’s average of 3.4%. These steady capital distribution activities will help in further enhancing shareholder confidence in the stock.Comerica Incorporated Dividend Yield (TTM) Comerica Incorporated dividend-yield-ttm | Comerica Incorporated QuoteSimilarly, other finance stocks like SEI Investments Company SEIC approved a $400 million increase in its stock repurchase program in October 2024, bringing the total available authorization to approximately $429 million. This amount includes the $29 million remaining under SEIC’s existing share repurchase authorization.In the same month, Federated Hermes, Inc. FHI also authorized an additional share repurchase authorization of five million shares, with no expiration date. FHI’s existing repurchase program, approved in October 2023, had approximately 1.2 million shares remaining as of Sept. 2024.CMA’s Strong Liquidity to Aid Capital DistributionThe bank has a solid liquidity profile. The company’s total liquidity capacity was $44.1 billion as of Sept. 30, 2024. Further, it also has a $16.8 billion capacity remaining in its discount window.  As of the same date, the company’s total debt (comprising short-term borrowings, and medium and long-term debt) aggregated $6.9 billion, which was significantly lower than its liquidity. It also has a strong capital position with a total capital ratio of 14.3% and a Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 11.97%.CMA’s strong liquidity and solid balance sheet position are likely to help sustain its capital distributions in the long run.Comerica’s Price PerformanceIn the past three months, CMA shares have gained 22.5% compared with the industry’s growth of 14.3%.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchCMA’s Zacks RankCMA currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.Zacks Names #1 Semiconductor StockIt's only 1/9,000th the size of NVIDIA which skyrocketed more than +800% since we recommended it. NVIDIA is still strong, but our new top chip stock has much more room to boom.With strong earnings growth and an expanding customer base, it's positioned to feed the rampant demand for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Internet of Things. Global semiconductor manufacturing is projected to explode from $452 billion in 2021 to $803 billion by 2028.See This Stock Now for Free >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Comerica Incorporated (CMA): Free Stock Analysis Report SEI Investments Company (SEIC): Free Stock Analysis Report Federated Hermes, Inc. (FHI): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks