HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 9.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,080 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 1,006 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $1,351,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the third quarter worth about $107,166,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 3rd quarter worth about $54,012,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the second quarter worth approximately $37,813,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 117.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 568,730 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,618,000 after purchasing an additional 307,129 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7,109.7% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 250,896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 247,416 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

NYSE CFR opened at $137.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $132.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.99. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.07. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The firm had revenue of $518.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens increased their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $123.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Compass Point upped their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.07.

Insider Transactions at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.31, for a total transaction of $442,842.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,367,550.91. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total transaction of $1,980,829.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,026,597.08. This trade represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 21,864 shares of company stock worth $2,977,033 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

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.