Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes $408,000 Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,040 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $408,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 460 shares of the bank's stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,000. Finally, Americana Partners LLC bought a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $202,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson bought 1,870 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $93,876.85. The trade was a 50.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFR has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stephens boosted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson cut shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $132.14.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.1%

CFR traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $131.40. The company had a trading volume of 377,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 464,949. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $131.17. The stock has a market cap of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $540.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors 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. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.91%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers 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.