Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 18,595 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,496,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.0% in the 4th 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 during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,052,290 shares of the bank's stock valued at $141,270,000 after purchasing an additional 94,252 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,026,585 shares of the bank's stock worth $137,823,000 after buying an additional 6,159 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew 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 valued at $130,703,000 after buying an additional 245,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 834,015 shares of the bank's stock valued at $111,967,000 after acquiring an additional 9,050 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CFR shares. Stephens lifted their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. DA Davidson cut shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.14.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

CFR traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $125.69. The stock had a trading volume of 112,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 462,612. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68. The business has a fifty day moving average of $119.03 and a 200 day moving average of $130.99. The company has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $560.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $540.57 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.18%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's payout ratio is presently 43.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson purchased 1,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.93 per share, for a total transaction of $31,659.10. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $93,876.85. This trade represents a 50.88 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

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.