Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 8,164 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 91,870 shares of the bank's stock after selling 8,164 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $12,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth $106,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.1%

CFR stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $131.40. The stock had a trading volume of 377,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,179. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.17. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.09 and a 1-year high of $147.64. The firm has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm had revenue of $560.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is currently 43.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CFR. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson cut shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $132.14.

Insider Activity

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson bought 1,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.93 per share, with a total value of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,876.85. The trade was a 50.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company 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.