Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 236,808 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 18.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,530,772 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 236,808 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $209,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 605,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,833,000 after purchasing an additional 230,993 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 166,900 shares of the bank’s stock worth $20,896,000 after acquiring an additional 15,063 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 126,040 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $16,201,000 after acquiring an additional 13,718 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 82.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,174 shares of the bank’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $135.00 to $160.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total value of $124,118.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,885,062.48. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of CFR opened at $164.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.00 and a 52 week high of $165.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $148.81 and a 200-day moving average of $142.56.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 22.86%.The business had revenue of $574.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $587.28 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.