Russell Investments Group Ltd. Trims Stock Holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 19.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,652 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 31,594 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.21% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $18,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 239.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 339 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter valued at $106,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CFR. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced 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 report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.57.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 8.1 %

CFR opened at $114.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.82. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $147.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.07. 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 (NYSE:CFR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 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%. Analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is 42.84%.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 102,946 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.