The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 26,953 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 595,683 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 26,953 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.93% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $79,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CFR. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,018 shares of the bank's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter valued at $230,000. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 7,723 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 44,060 shares of the bank's stock worth $5,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 52,607 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,062,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $125.02. 154,436 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 464,252. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.11. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.09 and a 12 month high of $147.64.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised Cullen/Frost Bankers from an "underperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $132.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $143.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $132.14.

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.