Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $136.00.

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Coolidge E. Rhodes, Jr. sold 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.00, for a total value of $88,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $481,965. This represents a 15.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 1st quarter worth $12,885,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,057,294 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $132,365,000 after purchasing an additional 30,709 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% during the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 4,362 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 165,483 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,719,000 after buying an additional 7,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,051,168 shares of the bank’s stock worth $131,606,000 after acquiring an additional 77,592 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:CFR opened at $128.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.64. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a fifty-two week low of $100.31 and a fifty-two week high of $146.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.52.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.29. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 15.84%. The firm had revenue of $567.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.24 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 28th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is presently 41.15%.

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.