Focus Partners Wealth Buys New Shares in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 1,518 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at $106,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson bought 1,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.93 per share, for a total transaction of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,876.85. The trade was a 50.88% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.4%

CFR stock opened at $126.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.15. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $147.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.57 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is 43.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday. They set an “underperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $132.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.93.

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.