Beck Bode LLC Invests $1.45 Million in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Key Points

• Beck Bode LLC has invested $1.45 million in Cullen/Frost Bankers, acquiring 11,591 shares, during the first quarter.
• Analysts have issued varied price targets for Cullen/Frost Bankers, with Barclays lowering their target from $155 to $145, while Jefferies set a target of $105 and an "underperform" rating.
• Cullen/Frost Bankers announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00, resulting in an annual yield of 3.0% and a dividend payout ratio of 43.06%.

Beck Bode LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,591 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,451,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,112,477 shares of the bank's stock valued at $139,282,000 after purchasing an additional 60,187 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,057,294 shares of the bank's stock worth $132,365,000 after purchasing an additional 30,709 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,051,168 shares of the bank's stock worth $131,606,000 after purchasing an additional 77,592 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $125,949,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 19.3% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 711,527 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,083,000 after purchasing an additional 114,910 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CFR. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $133.71.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 1.5%

CFR traded down $1.98 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $128.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 422,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 497,033. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.74. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $100.31 and a 1 year high of $147.64. The stock's 50-day moving average is $130.86 and its 200-day moving average is $126.68.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $2.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $567.83 million for 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 prior year, the company earned $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is 43.06%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers 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.