Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 984 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 16.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,846 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 984 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 81.3% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 5,128 shares of the bank’s stock worth $688,000 after acquiring an additional 2,299 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 18,341 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,462,000 after acquiring an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth about $7,772,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 77.9% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth about $2,496,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock opened at $126.60 on Friday. The firm 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. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.09 and a 12-month 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $131.15.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $540.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. 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. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson acquired 1,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.93 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 50.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $132.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $131.93.

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.