Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on Cullen/Frost Bankers, with eight holds, five buys and one sell among 14 analysts. The average 12-month price target is $166.67, modestly above the reported $159.97 share price.
• Several analysts recently raised their price targets, including TD Cowen to $185, Stephens to $183 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to $175; however, Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Cullen/Frost reported quarterly EPS of $2.70, exceeding the $2.55 consensus estimate, while revenue of $576.01 million fell short of expectations. The bank also paid a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share, representing a 2.6% annualized yield.

Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Hold" by the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $166.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CFR shares. Stephens raised their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $169.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $169.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CFR. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,133,453,000. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 22.6% in the second quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 2,777,658 shares of the bank's stock valued at $429,204,000 after purchasing an additional 511,784 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,530,772 shares of the bank's stock worth $209,833,000 after purchasing an additional 236,808 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,224,265 shares of the bank's stock worth $155,059,000 after acquiring an additional 10,246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,210,722 shares of the bank's stock valued at $165,966,000 after purchasing an additional 127,483 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

NYSE CFR opened at $159.97 on Friday. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 12 month low of $119.00 and a 12 month high of $170.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $163.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $149.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.94 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.52.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The bank reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $576.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.72 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 15.55%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 10.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Cullen/Frost Bankers's payout ratio is currently 38.94%.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Its principal subsidiary, Frost Bank, provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions throughout Texas.

Frost Bank offers commercial and consumer banking products, including deposit accounts, loans, treasury management, payment services, mortgage lending and online and mobile banking. Through its wealth management operations, the company also provides trust, investment management, brokerage and retirement services.

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