Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Cuts Stock Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. significantly reduced its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 60.4%, holding 2,540 shares valued at $318,000 after selling 3,868 shares.
• Recent analyst reports have resulted in target price adjustments for Cullen/Frost Bankers, with Barclays reducing it from $155.00 to $145.00 and Jefferies Financial Group setting a target price of $105.00.
• Cullen/Frost Bankers announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00, providing an annualized dividend of $4.00 and a yield of 3.1%.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 60.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,540 shares of the bank's stock after selling 3,868 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 59.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 391 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the first quarter valued at about $57,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 33.8% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 522 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CFR traded up $1.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $129.42. 199,144 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,887. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.16. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.31 and a 52 week high of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $133.71.

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.