Bessemer Group Inc. Cuts Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Bessemer Group Inc. decreased its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 32.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 126,245 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 60,493 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $17,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 109,154 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,822,000 after purchasing an additional 12,990 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 863.1% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,448 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,716,000 after purchasing an additional 19,221 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 268,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,961,000 after buying an additional 9,612 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 915.0% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 43,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,456,000 after buying an additional 38,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 52.8% in the fourth quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 130,944 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,581,000 after buying an additional 45,254 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of CFR stock opened at $161.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business’s 50 day moving average is $146.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.34. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.00 and a twelve month high of $163.80.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $574.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.28 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 22.86% and a return on equity of 15.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.57 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is presently 40.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total transaction of $124,118.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,062.48. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFR has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Cullen/Frost Bankers to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $152.42.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Profile

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc is the holding company for Frost Bank, a Texas-chartered financial institution whose origins date back to 1868 in San Antonio. As one of the oldest banking organizations in the state, it offers a broad range of services to individuals, small and large businesses, and institutional clients. Core banking activities include commercial lending, deposit services, cash management and trade finance, while consumer products cover residential mortgages, personal lines of credit and home equity loans.

Beyond traditional banking, the company provides comprehensive treasury and equipment leasing solutions tailored to support working capital and capital expenditure requirements.