Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Buys Shares of 1,617 Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,617 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $122,820,000 after purchasing an additional 66,223 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 822,432 shares of the bank’s stock worth $110,418,000 after buying an additional 16,223 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 611,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,124,000 after buying an additional 14,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 596,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,096,000 after acquiring an additional 113,757 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total value of $1,603,675.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 102,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,355,819.70. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.2 %

CFR opened at $125.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.97. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.09 and a 12 month high of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average of $135.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.77.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. On average, research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted 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. Compass Point increased 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 target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.77.

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.