Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Stake Lowered by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC cut its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 69.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 996 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,651 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,164 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 4,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CFR. Compass Point upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson downgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.77.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFR opened at $124.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $136.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $130.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $7.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.97. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. Research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.84%.

Insider Transactions at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total transaction of $1,603,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,355,819.70. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

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.