Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Stake Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 806,209 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 25,909 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $90,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 3,414,061 shares of the bank’s stock worth $381,897,000 after purchasing an additional 244,445 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. increased its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 10.2% during the third quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 1,209,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $135,252,000 after buying an additional 111,719 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $122,820,000 after buying an additional 66,223 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 3rd quarter worth about $107,166,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,098 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $96,856,000 after acquiring an additional 120,333 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of CFR opened at $132.87 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $134.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.09 and a 12-month high of $147.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.99.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $518.04 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.25 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 18.81%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is 47.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CFR shares. Compass Point upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Maxim Group upped 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.07.

Insider Activity

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of the company’s 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 completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,864 shares of company stock worth $2,977,033. Corporate insiders own 2.89% 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.