Comerica Declares Dividend Increase of 15 Percent

DALLAS, July 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) today announced its board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend for common stock of 30 cents ($0.30) per share, a 15 percent increase from the prior quarter.  The 2017 third quarter dividend is payable October 1, 2017, to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 15, 2017.

"Including today's 15 percent increase, our dividend has grown 30 percent this year," said Ralph W. Babb Jr., Comerica's chairman and chief executive officer. "This reflects our strong capital position and increased bottom line. Furthermore, it reinforces our commitment to continue to actively manage capital in a way that maximizes returns to shareholders." 

The board also authorized an increase in the number of common stock shares that Comerica is authorized to repurchase under its share repurchase program by up to five million additional shares. These actions were taken in conjunction with Comerica's announcement on June 28, 2017, that the Federal Reserve did not object to the company's annual capital plan and contemplated capital distributions under the 2017 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR). The plan includes up to $605 million in equity repurchases for a four-quarter period—from third quarter 2017 to second quarter 2018. The timing and ultimate amount of equity repurchases are subject to various factors, including the Company's financial performance and market conditions.  Shares and/or warrants will be purchased from time to time in the open market, through privately negotiated transactions, utilizing Rule 10b5-1 plans or otherwise.  The repurchased shares may be held as treasury stock or retired. The repurchased warrants may be retired and canceled.

About Comerica
Comerica Incorporated (NYSE:CMA) is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Business Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships, and helping people and businesses be successful. In addition to Texas, Comerica Bank locations can be found in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan, with select businesses operating in several other states, as well as in Canada and Mexico.

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "contemplates," "feels," "expects," "estimates," "seeks," "strives," "plans," "intends," "outlook," "forecast," "position," "target," "mission," "assume," "achievable," "potential," "strategy," "goal," "aspiration," "opportunity," "initiative," "outcome," "continue," "remain," "maintain," "on course," "trend," "objective," "looks forward," "projects," "models" and variations of such words and similar expressions, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," "might," "can," "may" or similar expressions, as they relate to Comerica or its management, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are predicated on the beliefs and assumptions of Comerica's management based on information known to Comerica's management as of the date of this news release and do not purport to speak as of any other date. Forward-looking statements may include descriptions of plans and objectives of Comerica's management for future or past operations, products or services, including the GEAR Up initiative, and forecasts of Comerica's revenue, earnings or other measures of economic performance, including statements of profitability, business segments and subsidiaries as well as estimates of the economic benefits of the GEAR Up initiative, estimates of credit trends and global stability. Such statements reflect the view of Comerica's management as of this date with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks materialize or should underlying beliefs or assumptions prove incorrect, Comerica's actual results could differ materially from those discussed. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences are changes in general economic, political or industry conditions; changes in monetary and fiscal policies, including changes in interest rates; whether Comerica may achieve opportunities for revenue enhancements and efficiency improvements under the GEAR Up initiative, or changes in the scope or assumptions underlying the GEAR Up initiative; Comerica's ability to maintain adequate sources of funding and liquidity; the effects of more stringent capital or liquidity requirements; declines or other changes in the businesses or industries of Comerica's customers, in particular the energy industry; unfavorable developments concerning credit quality; operational difficulties, failure of technology infrastructure or information security incidents; changes in regulation or oversight; reliance on other companies to provide certain key components of business infrastructure; changes in the financial markets, including fluctuations in interest rates and their impact on deposit pricing; reductions in Comerica's credit rating; the interdependence of financial service companies; the implementation of Comerica's strategies and business initiatives; damage to Comerica's reputation; Comerica's ability to utilize technology to efficiently and effectively develop, market and deliver new products and services; competitive product and pricing pressures among financial institutions within Comerica's markets; changes in customer behavior; any future strategic acquisitions or divestitures; management's ability to maintain and expand customer relationships; management's ability to retain key officers and employees; the impact of legal and regulatory proceedings or determinations; the effectiveness of methods of reducing risk exposures; the effects of terrorist activities and other hostilities; the effects of catastrophic events including, but not limited to, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, fires, droughts and floods; potential legislative, administrative or judicial changes or interpretations related to the tax treatment of corporations; changes in accounting standards and the critical nature of Comerica's accounting policies. Comerica cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not all-inclusive. For discussion of factors that may cause actual results to differ from expectations, please refer to our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, please refer to "Item 1A. Risk Factors" beginning on page 12 of Comerica's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Comerica does not undertake to update forward-looking statements to reflect facts, circumstances, assumptions or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made. For any forward-looking statements made in this news release or in any documents, Comerica claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

SOURCE Comerica Incorporated

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