Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Short Interest Up 13.5% in August

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,280,000 shares, a growth of 13.5% from the August 15th total of 2,890,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 498,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Currently, 5.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CFR stock opened at $110.68 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $109.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.78. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 12-month low of $82.25 and a 12-month high of $123.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $528.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.83 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.92%.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total value of $598,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,243,796.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total value of $598,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,243,796.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total value of $357,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,481.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cullen/Frost Bankers

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,199,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,574,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 5,906 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 8,449 shares of the bank’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 19.7% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 37,301 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,791,000 after buying an additional 6,143 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CFR shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush increased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley cut Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $112.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Monday, August 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $109.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.93.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

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.