Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 438,407 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.68% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $44,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CFR. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 46.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 334 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 90.7% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 574 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CFR. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $117.00 to $108.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $116.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $112.00 to $121.00 in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total value of $357,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,481.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total value of $598,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,243,796.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total transaction of $357,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,481.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

NYSE CFR opened at $114.25 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $123.17.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.14. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 19.51% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $528.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $506.83 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.95 dividend. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is presently 44.92%.

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.