Virtus Advisers LLC Buys New Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Virtus Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,126 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,283 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 18,134 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,296,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 248 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 12,921 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total transaction of $124,118.73. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,885,062.48. The trade was a 6.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $169.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $135.00 to $160.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.75.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $165.06 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $159.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $146.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.00 and a 12-month high of $170.80. The company has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.53.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The bank reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $576.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $589.72 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.55% and a net margin of 23.34%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.39 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $1.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.94%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company Profile

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc is the holding company for Frost Bank, a Texas-chartered financial institution whose origins date back to 1868 in San Antonio. As one of the oldest banking organizations in the state, it offers a broad range of services to individuals, small and large businesses, and institutional clients. Core banking activities include commercial lending, deposit services, cash management and trade finance, while consumer products cover residential mortgages, personal lines of credit and home equity loans.

Beyond traditional banking, the company provides comprehensive treasury and equipment leasing solutions tailored to support working capital and capital expenditure requirements.