Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $926,000 in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,311 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $926,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,187,406 shares of the bank’s stock worth $150,529,000 after acquiring an additional 77,028 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,129,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $143,209,000 after buying an additional 88,080 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 965,821 shares of the bank’s stock worth $122,437,000 after buying an additional 21,793 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 920,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $116,734,000 after buying an additional 97,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 705,101 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,386,000 after buying an additional 52,094 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $135.62 on Friday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.00 and a 52 week high of $148.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $139.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $8.52 billion, a PE ratio of 13.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.58.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 22.86% and a return on equity of 15.58%. The company had revenue of $574.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $587.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is currently 40.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $141.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.73.

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.