Ethic Inc. Lowers Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Ethic Inc. lowered its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,973 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 572 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of CFR stock opened at $130.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.69, a P/E/G ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $118.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $560.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.57 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is currently 43.91%.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson purchased 1,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $16.93 per share, for a total transaction of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,876.85. This trade represents a 50.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CFR shares. Stephens raised their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $132.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.14.

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.