Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Short Interest Update

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,980,000 shares, a growth of 8.2% from the March 31st total of 1,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 429,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.6 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, EVP Bobby Berman sold 1,312 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total value of $138,402.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,815 shares in the company, valued at $2,934,204.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, insider Paul Bracher sold 9,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total transaction of $1,074,308.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,543,972. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 1,312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total value of $138,402.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,934,204.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cullen/Frost Bankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 1st quarter valued at about $69,000. Norden Group LLC acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,062,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.3% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 49,766 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,602,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 821,103 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,432,000 after buying an additional 12,897 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CFR shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $109.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.46.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE CFR traded down $0.97 on Tuesday, reaching $104.32. The company had a trading volume of 504,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 424,401. The company’s fifty day moving average is $109.03 and its 200-day moving average is $104.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $120.31.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.02. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 18.31% and a net margin of 20.57%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.70 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 31st will be given a dividend of $0.92 per share. This represents a $3.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.50%.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Frost Bank that provides commercial and consumer banking services in Texas. The company offers commercial banking services to corporations, including financing for industrial and commercial properties, interim construction related to industrial and commercial properties, equipment, inventories and accounts receivables, and acquisitions; and treasury management services, as well as originates commercial leasing services.