Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.95

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) announced a quarterly dividend on Saturday, January 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.95 per share by the bank on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th.

Cullen/Frost Bankers has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.4% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 31 years. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a dividend payout ratio of 41.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Cullen/Frost Bankers to earn $8.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.6%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

CFR stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $137.33. 22,685 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 439,387. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a twelve month low of $94.09 and a twelve month high of $147.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.36.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 20.44%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total transaction of $1,603,675.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 102,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,355,819.70. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on CFR shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $144.00 price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson cut Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.54.

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.