Washington Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Washington Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,900 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.4% in the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,192,486 shares of the bank’s stock worth $359,378,000 after buying an additional 495,215 shares during the period. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the second quarter worth $37,813,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7,109.7% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 250,896 shares of the bank’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 247,416 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 44.1% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 798,403 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $86,619,000 after buying an additional 244,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,021,559 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $114,994,000 after buying an additional 161,580 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CFR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $117.00 to $108.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $121.31.

Insider Activity

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total value of $357,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,598 shares in the company, valued at $190,481.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total value of $357,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $190,481.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total transaction of $598,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,243,796.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE CFR traded up $1.90 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $121.90. 230,222 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,757. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.25 and a 12-month high of $124.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $110.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $528.81 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $506.83 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 19.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.92%.

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.