ProShare Advisors LLC Increases Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Key Points

• ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 9,612 additional shares and bringing its total to 268,194 shares worth about $34 million.
• The stock continues to attract heavy institutional ownership, with hedge funds and other institutions holding 86.9% of the shares outstanding.
• Cullen/Frost Bankers reported strong quarterly results, beating earnings estimates, and it also increased its quarterly dividend to $1.03 per share, implying a 3.0% yield.

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 268,194 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 9,612 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.42% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $33,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,187,406 shares of the bank's stock worth $150,529,000 after purchasing an additional 77,028 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position 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 valued at $143,209,000 after purchasing an additional 88,080 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 965,821 shares of the bank's stock valued at $122,437,000 after purchasing an additional 21,793 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in 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 valued at $116,734,000 after purchasing an additional 97,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 705,101 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,386,000 after buying an additional 52,094 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on CFR shares. Stephens upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $164.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Loop Capital set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $133.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $148.73.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $139.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average of $138.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $134.83. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.00 and a 12 month high of $148.97.

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 business had revenue of $1.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $1.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.95%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company 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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