Comerica (CMA) Competitors

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) and Comerica (NYSE:CMA) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, valuation, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals and insiders believe in EWBC or CMA?

89.5% of East West Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.7% of Comerica shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of East West Bancorp shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Comerica shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is EWBC or CMA a better dividend stock?

East West Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $2.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Comerica pays an annual dividend of $2.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. East West Bancorp pays out 28.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Comerica pays out 54.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. East West Bancorp has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Does the media refer more to EWBC or CMA?

In the previous week, Comerica had 6 more articles in the media than East West Bancorp. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Comerica and 12 mentions for East West Bancorp. East West Bancorp's average media sentiment score of 1.33 beat Comerica's score of 1.18 indicating that East West Bancorp is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
East West Bancorp	9 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Comerica	11 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend EWBC or CMA?

East West Bancorp currently has a consensus target price of $114.15, indicating a potential upside of 17.19%. Comerica has a consensus target price of $64.40, indicating a potential downside of 2.32%. Given East West Bancorp's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe East West Bancorp is more favorable than Comerica.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
East West Bancorp	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.62
Comerica	5 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more risk & volatility, EWBC or CMA?

East West Bancorp has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Comerica has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is EWBC or CMA more profitable?

East West Bancorp has a net margin of 26.06% compared to Comerica's net margin of 14.92%. East West Bancorp's return on equity of 15.09% beat Comerica's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
East West Bancorp	26.06%	15.09%	1.56%
Comerica	14.92%	10.92%	0.92%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, EWBC or CMA?

East West Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Comerica. East West Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Comerica, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
East West Bancorp	$4.53B	2.96	$1.17B	$8.56	11.38
Comerica	$3.31B	2.56	$698M	$5.22	12.63

Summary

East West Bancorp beats Comerica on 16 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.