S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component Comerica Inc. (NYSE:CMA) reported its results for the fourth quarter. Comerica is a financial holding company that operates in business, retail, and wealth management.

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Comerica Earnings Cheat Sheet for the Fourth Quarter.

Results: Net income for the Midwest regional bank remained steady at $96 million (48 cents per diluted share) from the same quarter a year ago.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: CMA beat the mean analyst estimate of 46 cents per share.

Quoting Management: “We were pleased to see total loan growth of $1.5 billion, or four percent, on a period-end basis,” said Ralph W. Babb Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. “The growth was driven by a $1.9 billion, or eight percent, increase in commercial loans, particularly in National Dealer Services, Mortgage Banker Finance, Energy Lending, Technology and Life Sciences, and Global Corporate Banking.”

Key Stats:

The company has now topped analyst estimates for the last four quarters. It beat the mark by 10 cents in the third quarter, by 2 cents in the second quarter, and by 9 cents in the first quarter.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly negative about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year has moved down from 51 cents a share to 47 cents over the last ninety days. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved down from $2.15 a share to $2.09 over the last ninety days.

Competitors to Watch: U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), University Bancorp, Inc. (UNIB), Dearborn Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:DEAR), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC), Regions Financial Corp. (NYSE:RF), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRBC), and Old National Bancorp (NYSE:ONB).

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

To contact the reporter on this story: Derek Hoffman at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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