State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Decreases Stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 28.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,641 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 7,300 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $1,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the second quarter worth approximately $212,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7,109.7% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 250,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 247,416 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 10.9% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 43,055 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,376,000 after acquiring an additional 4,230 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.1% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,078 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,736,000 after acquiring an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the second quarter worth approximately $224,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,598 shares in the company, valued at $190,481.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total transaction of $598,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,243,796.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 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 company insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $114.24 on Monday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.25 and a 52-week high of $123.17. The stock has a market cap of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $110.78 and its 200 day moving average is $106.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $528.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.83 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. 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%. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CFR. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stephens upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $116.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $117.00 to $108.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Maxim Group upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $109.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $119.71.

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.