Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $133.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $144.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Loop Capital set a $160.00 price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.25.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CFR stock traded down $0.76 on Monday, hitting $141.61. The stock had a trading volume of 10,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,913. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a twelve month low of $109.43 and a twelve month high of $148.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $139.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.26. The firm has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.61.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The bank reported $2.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $578.05 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 22.21% and a return on equity of 15.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.36 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 27th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Bobby Berman sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.07, for a total value of $137,070.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 28,406 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,893,610.42. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CFR. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter valued at about $92,904,000. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2,024.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 16,676.0% in the 4th 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. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,769,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,687,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.