Short Interest in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Grows By 9.0%

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,740,000 shares, a growth of 9.0% from the September 15th total of 3,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 501,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.5 days. Approximately 6.3% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $190,481.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $190,481.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,753 shares in the company, valued at $2,243,796.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cullen/Frost Bankers

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 125.2% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 11,888 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 6,610 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter valued at about $2,972,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 798,403 shares of the bank's stock valued at $86,619,000 after acquiring an additional 244,197 shares during the period. Natixis bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter valued at about $957,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter valued at about $1,062,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on CFR shares. DA Davidson raised 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. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $126.00 to $123.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.31.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Up 0.7 %

CFR traded up $0.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $124.14. 375,305 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 440,242. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $111.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.62. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a twelve month low of $82.25 and a twelve month high of $124.91. The stock has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $528.81 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $506.83 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.59 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. This is a boost from Cullen/Frost Bankers's previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers's payout ratio is 44.92%.

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.

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