New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 32,728 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 20.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 127,370 shares of the bank's stock after selling 32,728 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.20% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $15,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,083 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,756,000 after buying an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter worth $217,000. Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 119,600 shares of the bank's stock valued at $16,056,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,413 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,379,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 42.6% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,090 shares of the bank's stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CFR shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stephens boosted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $134.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson purchased 1,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.93 per share, with a total value of $31,659.10. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer owned 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $93,876.85. This represents a 50.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.89% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Up 2.1%

CFR stock traded up $2.87 during trading on Thursday, reaching $138.60. 577,885 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 447,935. The firm's 50 day moving average is $129.71 and its 200 day moving average is $128.84. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $100.31 and a twelve month high of $147.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.68.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.13. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.70% and a net margin of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $560.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is 43.91%.

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.