Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Raised to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald

Key Points

• Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) to a "hold" rating, amidst varying ratings from other financial analysts.
• The stock has an average target price of $134.00, with two analysts rating it as a Buy, ten as Hold, and three as Sell.
• Cullen/Frost reported $2.39 earnings per share for its last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.28, indicating strong financial performance.

Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday, September 9th,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on CFR. Barclays lowered their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $134.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:CFR traded down $2.60 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $124.87. The company had a trading volume of 101,193 shares, compared to its average volume of 438,663. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 1-year low of $100.31 and a 1-year high of $147.64. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $125.76.

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

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid 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 was Friday, August 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CFR. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8,800.0% in the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 267 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. eCIO Inc. bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 366 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 59.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 391 shares of the bank's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.