Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Receives “Sector Perform” Rating from Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $144.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point raised their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $129.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.8 %

CFR opened at $139.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $137.88 and a 200-day moving average of $124.76.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is presently 47.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total transaction of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total value of $1,980,829.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at $13,026,597.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.7% during the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,414,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $381,897,000 after acquiring an additional 244,445 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,209,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,252,000 after purchasing an additional 111,719 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,097,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,820,000 after purchasing an additional 66,223 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,052,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,270,000 after purchasing an additional 94,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 822,432 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,418,000 after buying an additional 16,223 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.