DA Davidson Downgrades Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) to Neutral

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) was downgraded by equities research analysts at DA Davidson from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $143.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their previous target price of $138.00. DA Davidson’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.59% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CFR. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Friday. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.69.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

CFR stock opened at $139.39 on Monday. 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 has a 52 week low of $94.09 and a 52 week high of $147.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $137.88 and its 200 day moving average is $124.94. The firm has a market cap of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.99.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 16.04%. Research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total value of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,525.92. The trade was a 58.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total transaction of $1,980,829.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 94,423 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,026,597.08. This trade represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.7% in the third quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,414,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $381,897,000 after buying an additional 244,445 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 10.2% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,209,122 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $135,252,000 after purchasing an additional 111,719 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,097,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,820,000 after purchasing an additional 66,223 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,052,290 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $141,270,000 after purchasing an additional 94,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 822,432 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $110,418,000 after purchasing an additional 16,223 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.