27,093 Shares in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Acquired by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 27,093 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $3,392,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,083 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the fourth quarter valued at $389,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,375,303 shares of the bank's stock valued at $855,884,000 after acquiring an additional 66,243 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,339 shares of the bank's stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 4,090 shares of the bank's stock valued at $549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson bought 1,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.93 per share, for a total transaction of $31,659.10. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $93,876.85. This represents a 50.88% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.89% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $131.93.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of CFR traded up $2.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $129.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 344,357 shares, compared to its average volume of 466,409. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $120.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.57, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The company had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $540.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.91%.

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.