Benzinga | Oct 21, 2021 12:10PM EDT

Why Comerica Shares Are Rising

Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) shares are trading higher by 4.1% at $87.49 after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter EPS results.

Comerica reported quarterly earnings of $1.90 per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.64 by 16%. This represents a 32% increase over earnings of $1.44 per share from the same period last year.

"We generated earnings of $1.90 per share and an ROE of 13.53 percent in the third quarter," said Curt C. Farmer, Comerica Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Solid loan growth in a number of business lines was overshadowed by headwinds from PPP loan forgiveness and reduced auto dealer loans due to supply constraints."

"We continued to drive strong deposit growth, robust fee income, and excellent credit quality. Revenue increased quarter over quarter and year over year, despite the low-rate environment. Our efficiency ratio was stable as we remained focused on managing expenses while supporting our revenue-generating activities. Also, we repurchased over 3 million shares, reducing our share count by over 2 percent. We expect economic metrics to remain relatively strong over the next year, which bodes well for growth," Farmer stated.

Comerica is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas. Comerica is primarily focused on relationship-based commercial banking. In addition to Texas, Comerica's other primary geographies are California and Michigan.

Comerica has a 52-week high of $88.06 and a 52-week low of $41.34.