BNP Paribas Financial Markets Sells 14,531 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lessened its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 61.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,297 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 14,531 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $1,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter worth about $106,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson acquired 1,870 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.93 per share, for a total transaction of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $93,876.85. This represents a 50.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of CFR stock opened at $131.62 on Tuesday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $147.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $119.22 and its 200-day moving average is $131.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. 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 (NYSE:CFR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.13. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The company had revenue of $560.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFR has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $132.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.14.

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.