Palisade Capital Management LP Sells 2,871 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Palisade Capital Management LP decreased its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,517 shares of the bank's stock after selling 2,871 shares during the quarter. Cullen/Frost Bankers makes up 1.0% of Palisade Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Palisade Capital Management LP owned 0.43% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $34,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CFR. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 59.6% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 391 shares of the bank's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 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. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth about $106,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CFR has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson purchased 1,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was acquired 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 directly owned 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $93,876.85. This trade represents a 50.88% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Shares of CFR traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $136.19. 394,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 457,150. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $126.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.67. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $96.94 and a 1 year high of $147.64. The stock has a market cap of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.68.

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

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were given a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 43.91%.

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.