Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Short Interest Down 8.4% in October

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,170,000 shares, a drop of 8.4% from the October 15th total of 3,460,000 shares. Approximately 5.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 463,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total transaction of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,888 shares in the company, valued at $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.31, for a total transaction of $442,842.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,367,550.91. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,192,486 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $359,378,000 after acquiring an additional 495,215 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 15,854 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,116 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 47,534 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,350,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $957,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock traded down $0.76 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $138.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 460,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,439. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $144.89. The stock has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.98.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.07. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The company had revenue of $518.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.38 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CFR. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.86.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company 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.