Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,375,303 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 66,243 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.94% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $855,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,651,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 71,366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,581,000 after buying an additional 1,717 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 33,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,444,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 62,649 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,410,000 after buying an additional 2,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 13,196 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 4,044 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CFR. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Compass Point boosted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson lowered Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.77.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

CFR stock opened at $124.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $134.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.09 and a 12-month high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total value of $1,603,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 102,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,355,819.70. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Profile

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.