Whittier Trust Co. Acquires 7,061 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 10.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,835 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,061 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $10,332,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,904,000. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2,024.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 373,977 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,409,000 after buying an additional 356,373 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 16,676.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 353,470 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,760,000 after buying an additional 351,363 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the third quarter valued at $29,687,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 197.5% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 349,601 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,319,000 after acquiring an additional 232,077 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 12,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,885,062.48. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CFR shares. Stephens raised Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $160.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.92.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Cullen/Frost Bankers stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $156.28. 28,613 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 561,961. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.00 and a 12 month high of $157.34. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $143.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.54.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $574.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.12%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company Profile

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.