Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 14,420 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Key Points

• Westwood Holdings Group Inc. has reduced its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. by 3.2%, selling 14,420 shares, which left them with a total of 432,947 shares valued at approximately $54.21 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their stakes in Cullen/Frost Bankers, with GAMMA Investing LLC making a substantial addition of over 1,005,000 shares, raising their position by 122,282.2% during the same quarter.
• The bank recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.2%, payable to investors of record on August 29th.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 432,947 shares of the bank's stock after selling 14,420 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned about 0.67% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $54,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CFR. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 5.7% in the first quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,112,477 shares of the bank's stock worth $139,282,000 after purchasing an additional 60,187 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,026,585 shares of the bank's stock worth $137,823,000 after buying an additional 6,159 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 122,282.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005,982 shares of the bank's stock valued at $125,949,000 after buying an additional 1,005,160 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised 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 valued at $130,703,000 after acquiring an additional 245,458 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 19.3% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 711,527 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,083,000 after acquiring an additional 114,910 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays decreased their price target on 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. 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 reduced their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $133.71.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFR traded up $1.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $123.13. 330,664 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 438,206. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.31 and a 52 week high of $147.64. The company's 50 day moving average price is $130.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The bank reported $2.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.28 by $0.11. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.46% and a net margin of 21.20%. The firm had revenue of $567.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $552.04 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.