Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Coverage Initiated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald has initiated coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers with a "neutral" rating and a price target of $138.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.38% from its previous close.
• The bank reported earnings of $2.39 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue of $567.83 million.
• Market consensus suggests a rating of "Reduce" for the stock, with 2 analysts recommending a Buy, 10 recommending a Hold, and 3 recommending a Sell.

Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $138.00 price objective on the bank's stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $134.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CFR stock traded down $0.58 on Wednesday, reaching $126.91. The company had a trading volume of 135,260 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,068. The stock has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average of $130.43 and a 200-day moving average of $125.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 12 month low of $100.31 and a 12 month high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $567.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $552.04 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 21.20% and a return on equity of 15.46%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFR. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 122,282.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005,982 shares of the bank's stock valued at $125,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,160 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 2nd quarter valued at about $90,484,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 350.8% in the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 518,387 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,359,000 after acquiring an additional 403,387 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 230,993 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 19.3% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 711,527 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,083,000 after acquiring an additional 114,910 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company Profile

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.