Stifel Financial Corp Increases Stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,474 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $5,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Keene & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 5,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the bank’s stock worth $150,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 271 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.5% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 678 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.2% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $123.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.07.

Insider Activity

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,661 shares in the company, valued at $3,367,550.91. This represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total value of $1,980,829.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,026,597.08. This represents a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,864 shares of company stock worth $2,977,033. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of CFR opened at $137.80 on Friday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $147.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $132.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.73. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.99.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $518.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.25 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 18.81%. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.38 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

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

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.