Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $119.93.

CFR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $109.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $112.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $117.00 to $108.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $116.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock opened at $109.53 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $106.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.00. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 52-week low of $82.25 and a 52-week high of $123.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.51%. The business had revenue of $528.81 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $506.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is presently 44.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total value of $357,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,598 shares in the company, valued at $190,481.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total transaction of $598,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,243,796.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total transaction of $357,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,481.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cullen/Frost Bankers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 46.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 334 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 90.7% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.