Aristotle Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Aristotle Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,765,009 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 245,169 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned about 7.59% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $653,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CFR. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 61.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 605,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,833,000 after buying an additional 230,993 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 166,900 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,896,000 after purchasing an additional 15,063 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 12.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 126,040 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,201,000 after purchasing an additional 13,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 82.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $151,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

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

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:CFR opened at $164.23 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.00 and a 12-month high of $165.16.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $574.84 million during 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 last year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.57 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is presently 40.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CFR. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.