Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Jefferies Financial Group upgraded the stock from an underperform rating to a hold rating. Jefferies Financial Group now has a $160.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $135.00. Cullen/Frost Bankers traded as high as $157.34 and last traded at $155.2750, with a volume of 423652 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $154.86.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $164.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD Cowen raised Cullen/Frost Bankers to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $151.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total transaction of $124,118.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,062.48. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CFR. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 109,154 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,990 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 863.1% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,716,000 after acquiring an additional 19,221 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 268,194 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,961,000 after acquiring an additional 9,612 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 915.0% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 43,036 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 38,796 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth about $1,142,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $142.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.38.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $574.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.28 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 22.86% and a return on equity of 15.58%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.12%.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc is the holding company for Frost Bank, a Texas-chartered financial institution whose origins date back to 1868 in San Antonio. As one of the oldest banking organizations in the state, it offers a broad range of services to individuals, small and large businesses, and institutional clients. Core banking activities include commercial lending, deposit services, cash management and trade finance, while consumer products cover residential mortgages, personal lines of credit and home equity loans.

Beyond traditional banking, the company provides comprehensive treasury and equipment leasing solutions tailored to support working capital and capital expenditure requirements.