Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR) vs. The Competition Critical Survey

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) is one of 919 publicly-traded companies in the “Banks” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Cullen/Frost Bankers to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk and earnings.

Dividends

Cullen/Frost Bankers pays an annual dividend of $4.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Cullen/Frost Bankers pays out 38.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Banks” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.9% and pay out 28.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Cullen/Frost Bankers has increased its dividend for 32 consecutive years. Cullen/Frost Bankers lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Cullen/Frost Bankers and its peers revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cullen/Frost Bankers	$2.92 billion	$648.56 million	14.68
Cullen/Frost Bankers Competitors	$298.53 billion	$2.42 billion	21.06

Cullen/Frost Bankers’ peers have higher revenue and earnings than Cullen/Frost Bankers. Cullen/Frost Bankers is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Cullen/Frost Bankers and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cullen/Frost Bankers	1	8	4	0	2.23
Cullen/Frost Bankers Competitors	7494	30254	27863	1490	2.35

Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus target price of $171.55, suggesting a potential upside of 8.70%. As a group, “Banks” companies have a potential upside of 14.41%. Given Cullen/Frost Bankers’ peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Cullen/Frost Bankers has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Cullen/Frost Bankers and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cullen/Frost Bankers	23.37%	16.27%	1.30%
Cullen/Frost Bankers Competitors	15.63%	9.41%	0.93%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.9% of Cullen/Frost Bankers shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.0% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Cullen/Frost Bankers shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.7% of shares of all “Banks” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Cullen/Frost Bankers has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cullen/Frost Bankers’ peers have a beta of 0.61, indicating that their average stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Cullen/Frost Bankers peers beat Cullen/Frost Bankers on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. is a financial holding company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Its principal subsidiary, Frost Bank, provides banking and other financial services to individuals and businesses. Frost Bank’s services include consumer and commercial banking, lending, treasury management, and wealth management, including trust and investment services. The company primarily serves customers across Texas through its branches and digital banking channels. The company traces its roots to 1868, when Thomas Claiborne Frost established a mercantile business in San Antonio; banking became part of the business later in the 19th century.