Russell Investments Group Ltd. Sells 56,132 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 41.7% during the first quarter, now owning about 0.12% of the company.
• The bank reported earnings per share of $2.39 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $2.28.
• Cullen/Frost Bankers declared a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.2%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. trimmed its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 41.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,520 shares of the bank's stock after selling 56,132 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $9,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Mariner LLC raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.8% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,888 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 3,135 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 690.1% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,797 shares of the bank's stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 2,443 shares during the period. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 12,536 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,683,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP bought a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter valued at about $298,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 143,614 shares of the bank's stock valued at $19,280,000 after acquiring an additional 32,203 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $133.71.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

NYSE:CFR traded up $4.6120 on Friday, hitting $130.8420. The company had a trading volume of 544,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,691. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $130.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.04. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.31 and a 52 week high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $567.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.06%.

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.