Bank of Montreal Can Raises Stock Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 515.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 133,618 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 111,919 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $14,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,414,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $381,897,000 after buying an additional 244,445 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 10.2% in the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,209,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,252,000 after acquiring an additional 111,719 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the third quarter worth approximately $107,166,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 14.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,098 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,856,000 after purchasing an additional 120,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 806,209 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,185,000 after purchasing an additional 25,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total value of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total transaction of $1,980,829.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,026,597.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,864 shares of company stock valued at $2,977,033 in the last three months. 2.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Compass Point boosted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $111.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four equities 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 data from MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.86.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Cullen/Frost Bankers stock opened at $140.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.28. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.07. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 18.81%. The company had revenue of $518.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.15%.

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.