First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR – Get Rating) by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,294 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,193 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $9,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CFR. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 39.1% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,408,656 shares of the bank’s stock worth $333,382,000 after purchasing an additional 676,467 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 237.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 728,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $96,310,000 after buying an additional 512,856 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,412,497 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $715,641,000 after buying an additional 368,866 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 290.4% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 159,776 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,126,000 after buying an additional 118,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 1st quarter valued at $11,616,000. 81.93% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

CFR opened at $118.75 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $131.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.05. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 12-month low of $112.67 and a 12-month high of $160.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 26th. The bank reported $2.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.16. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 30.80%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.87 per share. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 27th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is 39.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $155.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Raymond James cut Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $175.00 to $155.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. DA Davidson began coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Tuesday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $147.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $148.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul Bracher sold 5,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.97, for a total transaction of $765,912.56. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,834 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,158,468.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

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Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc is a financial holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial and consumer banking services. It operates through the Banking and Frost Wealth Advisors segments. The Banking segment operates commercial and consumer banking services. The Frost Wealth Advisors segment includes fee-based services within private trust, retirement services, and financial management services.