DALLAS, July 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) announced a 4.5 percent increase of the quarterly cash dividend for common stock to 23 cents ($0.23) per share. The dividend is payable October 1, 2016, to common stock shareholders of record on September 15, 2016.

"Today's dividend increase reflects our Board's confidence in Comerica's solid capital position, business model and strategic direction, as well as our future growth potential," said Ralph W. Babb Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. "As we have always done, we expect to continue to actively manage capital in a way that maximizes returns to shareholders, while ensuring that we meet regulatory capital requirements."

The board also authorized an increase of the number of shares of common stock that Comerica is authorized to repurchase under its share repurchase program by up to 10 million additional shares. These actions were taken in conjunction with Comerica's announcement on June 29, 2016, that the Federal Reserve did not object to Comerica's annual capital plan and contemplated capital distributions under the 2016 Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review ("CCAR"). The plan includes up to $440 million in equity repurchases for the four-quarter period commencing in the third quarter 2016 and ending in the second quarter 2017. The timing and ultimate amount of equity repurchases will be subject to various factors, including the Company's capital position, financial performance and market conditions, including interest rates.  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 cancelled.

Comerica Incorporated 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, and forecasts of Comerica's revenue, earnings or other measures of economic performance, including statements of profitability, business segments and subsidiaries, 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; changes in regulation or oversight; 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; reliance on other companies to provide certain key components of business infrastructure; factors impacting noninterest expenses which are beyond Comerica's control; changes in the financial markets, including fluctuations in interest rates and their impact on deposit pricing; reductions in Comerica's credit rating; 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; 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; changes in accounting standards and the critical nature of Comerica's accounting policies. Comerica cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive. 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, 2015 and "Item 1A. Risk Factors" beginning on page 54 of Comerica's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 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.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20010807/CMALOGO

SOURCE Comerica Incorporated