Cullen/Frost Bankers’ (CFR) “Sector Perform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reissued their sector perform rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $144.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CFR. Citigroup upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Compass Point upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens increased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:CFR opened at $139.39 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $137.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.94. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $147.64. The company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 18.81%. On average, research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is 42.84%.

Insider Transactions at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total transaction of $553,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total value of $1,980,829.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,026,597.08. This trade represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.7% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,414,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $381,897,000 after purchasing an additional 244,445 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 10.2% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,209,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,252,000 after purchasing an additional 111,719 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,097,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,820,000 after buying an additional 66,223 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,052,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,270,000 after buying an additional 94,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 822,432 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,418,000 after buying an additional 16,223 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.