Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR Shares Purchased by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.3% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 1,530,772 shares worth about $209.8 million. The firm now owns 2.44% of the bank.
• Cullen/Frost Bankers reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $2.65 beating estimates, though revenue came in below expectations. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold, with an average price target of $152.42.
• The bank raised its dividend to $1.03 per share from $1.00, giving it an annualized payout of $4.12 and a yield of about 2.5%. The company also remains heavily owned by institutions, with 86.9% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,530,772 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 236,808 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 2.44% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $209,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Matrix Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 320 shares of the bank's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.9% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the bank's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 18,134 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,296,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Evolve Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.0% in the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the bank's stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 248 shares of the bank's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total value of $124,118.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,885,062.48. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFR has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $152.42.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of CFR opened at $164.23 on Friday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.00 and a 12 month high of $165.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.56. The company has a market cap of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.54.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $574.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $587.28 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 22.86%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is 40.12%.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc is the holding company for Frost Bank, a Texas-chartered financial institution whose origins date back to 1868 in San Antonio. As one of the oldest banking organizations in the state, it offers a broad range of services to individuals, small and large businesses, and institutional clients. Core banking activities include commercial lending, deposit services, cash management and trade finance, while consumer products cover residential mortgages, personal lines of credit and home equity loans.

Beyond traditional banking, the company provides comprehensive treasury and equipment leasing solutions tailored to support working capital and capital expenditure requirements.

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