Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Short Interest Update

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) was the target of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,170,000 shares, a decline of 8.4% from the October 15th total of 3,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 463,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.8 days. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of CFR stock traded down $0.76 on Monday, hitting $138.52. 460,559 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 457,439. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a twelve month low of $94.09 and a twelve month high of $144.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $120.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.07. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 18.81%. The firm had revenue of $518.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is 47.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total value of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.31, for a total transaction of $442,842.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 26,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,367,550.91. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 169.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 224 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 63.3% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 271 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 444 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $123.00 to $115.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stephens upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $111.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.86.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company 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.