Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,040 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CFR. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter worth $106,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter worth $202,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CFR. DA Davidson lowered Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.14.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $131.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.09 and a 12 month high of $147.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $119.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.10. The company has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.57 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.91%.

Insider Transactions at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson bought 1,870 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.93 per share, with a total value of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $93,876.85. The trade was a 50.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

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.