Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Sets New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $125.30 and last traded at $125.25, with a volume of 217118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $123.06.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFR has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective 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 dropped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $117.00 to $108.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $116.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped 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. Four 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $121.31.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50 day moving average is $112.92 and its 200-day moving average is $108.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.14. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 19.51% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The business had revenue of $528.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.83 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This is an increase from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Cullen/Frost Bankers's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Cullen/Frost Bankers

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.4% during the first quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,192,486 shares of the bank's stock valued at $359,378,000 after buying an additional 495,215 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,021,559 shares of the bank's stock worth $114,994,000 after purchasing an additional 161,580 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 14.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,098 shares of the bank's stock worth $96,856,000 after purchasing an additional 120,333 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.4% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 648,922 shares of the bank's stock worth $65,950,000 after purchasing an additional 2,420 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.3% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 438,407 shares of the bank's stock worth $44,555,000 after purchasing an additional 5,541 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

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.