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

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,520,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the January 15th total of 2,760,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 410,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.1 days.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

CFR stock traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $143.53. 564,412 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 474,446. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 12-month low of $94.09 and a 12-month high of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $137.97 and its 200 day moving average is $126.87. The company has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.52 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 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 16.04% and a net margin of 18.81%. On average, research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.69 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.84%.

Insider Transactions at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total value of $1,980,829.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,026,597.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers 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 sale, the insider now owns 102,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,355,819.70. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 3rd quarter valued at about $107,166,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter valued at $69,591,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,012,000. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,223,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 117.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 568,730 shares of the bank’s stock worth $63,618,000 after purchasing an additional 307,129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CFR. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson lowered shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens boosted their target price 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. Finally, Compass Point raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.54.

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.