Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Earns Underperform Rating from Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an underperform rating and a $105.00 price objective on the bank's stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI raised Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $131.93.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.4%

CFR traded down $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $126.60. The stock had a trading volume of 275,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,487. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The company has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a twelve month low of $94.09 and a twelve month high of $147.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.01.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.57 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's payout ratio is presently 43.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson bought 1,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.93 per share, with a total value of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $93,876.85. This represents a 50.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,651 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,370,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,164 shares of the bank's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.0% during the first quarter. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,165 shares of the bank's stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,086 shares of the bank's stock valued at $280,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.