Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Acquires 389 Shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP) by 8.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 389 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Ameriprise Financial were worth $2,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ameriprise Financial in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Ameriprise Financial by 148.6% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ameriprise Financial during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 83.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ameriprise Financial Stock Performance

Shares of AMP opened at $539.82 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $520.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $511.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.40 billion, a PE ratio of 18.34, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. has a 1 year low of $385.74 and a 1 year high of $582.05.

Ameriprise Financial (NYSE:AMP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $9.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.08 by $0.42. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.45 billion. Ameriprise Financial had a return on equity of 68.93% and a net margin of 17.14%. The business’s revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.39 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ameriprise Financial, Inc. will post 38.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ameriprise Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 5th were paid a dividend of $1.60 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 5th. This is an increase from Ameriprise Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.48. This represents a $6.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. Ameriprise Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.75%.

Ameriprise Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, April 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 9.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial raised Ameriprise Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $518.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ameriprise Financial from $565.00 to $595.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ameriprise Financial from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley cut Ameriprise Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $462.00 to $530.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ameriprise Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $524.71.

Ameriprise Financial Company Profile

Ameriprise Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services to individual and institutional clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Retirement & Protection Solutions, and Corporate & Other.