Wedbush Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR)

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Wedbush in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $115.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential upside of 4.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on CFR. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $109.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $116.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $118.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $117.92.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of CFR stock traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $109.56. 51,529 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 415,447. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.71. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 1-year low of $82.25 and a 1-year high of $120.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $7.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.03.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The bank reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.02. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 22.60% and a return on equity of 19.66%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, insider Paul Bracher sold 9,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total value of $1,074,308.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,543,972. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Paul Bracher sold 9,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.40, for a total value of $1,074,308.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,543,972. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 1,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.49, for a total transaction of $138,402.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 27,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,934,204.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cullen/Frost Bankers

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.9% during the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 5.6% during the first quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 6,156 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $693,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.8% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 22.5% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 49,516 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,574,000 after purchasing an additional 9,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 172.7% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 28,413 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 17,993 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.