Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 50,551 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 447,367 shares of the bank's stock after selling 50,551 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.70% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $60,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CFR. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,303 shares of the bank's stock worth $855,884,000 after purchasing an additional 66,243 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,052,290 shares of the bank's stock worth $141,270,000 after purchasing an additional 94,252 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,026,585 shares of the bank's stock worth $137,823,000 after purchasing an additional 6,159 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 973,576 shares of the bank's stock worth $130,703,000 after purchasing an additional 245,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 834,015 shares of the bank's stock worth $111,967,000 after purchasing an additional 9,050 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

CFR stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $127.23. 250,825 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 465,148. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.09 and a 1-year high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $540.57 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.91%.

Insider Activity

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson purchased 1,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.93 per share, for a total transaction of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,876.85. This represents a 50.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson cut Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $131.93.

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.