Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $2.51 Million in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the first quarter, acquiring 18,300 shares valued at about $2.51 million.
• Several other institutional investors also adjusted their positions, and overall 86.9% of Cullen/Frost Bankers’ stock is owned by institutions and hedge funds.
• The bank beat earnings expectations with $2.65 EPS in its latest quarter and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share from $1.00.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,300 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,509,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CFR. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 109,154 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,822,000 after acquiring an additional 12,990 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 863.1% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,448 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,716,000 after acquiring an additional 19,221 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 268,194 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,961,000 after acquiring an additional 9,612 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 915.0% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 43,036 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 38,796 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,142,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,885,062.48. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.14% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Stephens upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Monday, June 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $149.45.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Cullen/Frost Bankers stock opened at $154.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.00 and a 12 month high of $156.21. The stock's 50 day moving average is $141.99 and its 200-day moving average is $138.67.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 22.86%.The business had revenue of $574.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $587.28 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.30 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.54 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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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