Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $87.21 Million Holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its position in Cullen/Frost by 1.9% in Q4 to 688,652 shares, representing about $87.21 million or roughly 1.08% of the company.
• Cullen/Frost beat quarterly expectations with $2.65 EPS vs. $2.49 expected and $1.04 billion in revenue, and raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 (annualized $4.12, yield 2.9%; ex-dividend May 29).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus is an average rating of “Hold” with a $144.58 average price target, although several firms have recently upgraded the stock and set targets up to $164.00.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 688,652 shares of the bank's stock after selling 13,311 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.08% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $87,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.9% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,187,406 shares of the bank's stock worth $150,529,000 after buying an additional 77,028 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.5% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,129,673 shares of the bank's stock worth $143,209,000 after purchasing an additional 88,080 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 965,821 shares of the bank's stock worth $122,437,000 after purchasing an additional 21,793 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 11.9% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 920,833 shares of the bank's stock worth $116,734,000 after purchasing an additional 97,955 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.1% in the third quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 831,752 shares of the bank's stock worth $105,441,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CFR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Loop Capital set a $160.00 price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stephens upgraded 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $144.58.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 0.3%

CFR stock opened at $140.94 on Thursday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1-year low of $119.00 and a 1-year high of $148.97. The firm has a market cap of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50 day moving average is $138.84 and its 200-day moving average is $133.90. 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 (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a $1.03 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.95%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CFR? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.