Great Lakes Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,756 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $773,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CFR. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 169.9% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 224 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the third quarter worth about $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased 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 purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $144.00 price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson lowered shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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. Finally, Compass Point upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total value of $1,603,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,355,819.70. This represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

Shares of CFR opened at $122.64 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $137.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $130.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.97. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. Research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is currently 42.84%.

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.