Hilton Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Hilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,697 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 2,591 shares during the quarter. Hilton Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $5,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keene & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 1.7% in the third quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 5,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $586,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.0% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,473 shares of the bank’s stock worth $150,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 271 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total transaction of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,888 shares in the company, valued at $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.31, for a total value of $442,842.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,367,550.91. The trade was a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $137.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.10 and a 200 day moving average of $111.42. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.98. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.09 and a 12-month high of $144.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $518.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.38 EPS. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.71 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.15%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush cut their price target 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. Compass Point upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $111.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.86.

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.