Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Decreases Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Free Report) by 29.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 848,892 shares of the bank's stock after selling 360,230 shares during the period. Cullen/Frost Bankers comprises 1.4% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. owned approximately 1.32% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $113,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CFR. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $381,897,000 after purchasing an additional 244,445 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $122,820,000 after acquiring an additional 66,223 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the third quarter worth $107,166,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 806,209 shares of the bank's stock valued at $90,185,000 after purchasing an additional 25,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $63,618,000 after purchasing an additional 307,129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFR traded down $1.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $139.02. The company had a trading volume of 530,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,831. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $137.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.00. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.07. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. The firm had revenue of $518.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.38 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total transaction of $553,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This represents a 58.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.31, for a total transaction of $442,842.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,661 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,367,550.91. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 21,864 shares of company stock worth $2,977,033. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CFR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $123.00 to $115.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stephens boosted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point upped 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. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $127.07.

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.