Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR Shares Sold by Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. has reduced its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. by 22.4%, selling 36,747 shares, and now owns 127,030 shares, which represents 1.4% of its total assets.
• Other institutional investors have also made significant changes to their positions, with GAMMA Investing LLC dramatically increasing its stake by over 122,000% in the first quarter.
• Following recent earnings, Cullen/Frost Bankers reported an EPS of $2.39, beating the consensus estimate, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.00, resulting in an annual yield of 3.2%.

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. cut its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 22.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 127,030 shares of the bank's stock after selling 36,747 shares during the quarter. Cullen/Frost Bankers comprises about 1.4% of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.20% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $15,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,112,477 shares of the bank's stock worth $139,282,000 after acquiring an additional 60,187 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,057,294 shares of the bank's stock worth $132,365,000 after acquiring an additional 30,709 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 122,282.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005,982 shares of the bank's stock worth $125,949,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005,160 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 973,576 shares of the bank's stock worth $130,703,000 after acquiring an additional 245,458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 711,527 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,083,000 after acquiring an additional 114,910 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE CFR traded down $0.1350 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $126.3750. 105,726 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,561. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $100.31 and a 52 week high of $147.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $129.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.35. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's payout ratio is presently 43.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CFR shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They set an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Stephens increased their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped 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 assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target 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.