Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,630 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. Cullen/Frost Bankers accounts for approximately 1.3% of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $16,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CFR. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 61.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 605,697 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,833,000 after acquiring an additional 230,993 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 1st quarter worth $12,885,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 1st quarter worth $12,169,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 13.4% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 806,752 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,700,000 after purchasing an additional 95,225 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 8.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,051,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $131,606,000 after buying an additional 77,592 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CFR shares. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen raised Cullen/Frost Bankers to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $136.75.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of CFR stock opened at $124.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $100.31 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.30.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The bank reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.38 by $0.29. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 21.20% and a return on equity of 15.46%. The firm had revenue of $589.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $565.54 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.24 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.15%.

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.