Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 26,325 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group trimmed its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.8% in the first quarter, selling 26,325 shares and leaving it with 662,327 shares valued at about $90.8 million.
• Cullen/Frost Bankers reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $2.65 per share, beating consensus estimates, while revenue came in slightly below forecasts.
• The bank also raised its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, giving it an annualized payout of $4.12 and a dividend yield of 2.6%.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 662,327 shares of the bank's stock after selling 26,325 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.05% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $90,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter worth $212,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 8,623 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 147.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 36,710 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,032,000 after buying an additional 21,897 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,018 shares of the bank's stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the bank's stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE CFR opened at $158.71 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $145.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $140.95. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $119.00 and a 52-week high of $159.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $9.97 billion, a PE ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.54.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $574.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.28 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 22.86% and a return on equity of 15.58%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th were paid a $1.03 dividend. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $154.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $152.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total transaction of $124,118.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,712 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,885,062.48. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Profile

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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