Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Stock Position Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 822,432 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 16,223 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $110,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Americana Partners LLC bought a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at about $231,000. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 56,489 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,762 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.54.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

NYSE CFR opened at $144.69 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $137.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.52 and a beta of 0.99. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.09 and a 52-week high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 16.04%. Equities research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is presently 42.84%.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total transaction of $1,603,675.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,355,819.70. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company 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.