Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 300 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,200 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $1,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 46.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 334 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 90.7% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 391 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 461 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $111.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.25 and a 52-week high of $123.17. The stock has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.22, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.38.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $528.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.83 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 19.51% and a return on equity of 17.43%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total value of $598,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 18,753 shares in the company, valued at $2,243,796.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Candace K. Wolfshohl sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total value of $598,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,243,796.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.20, for a total transaction of $357,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,598 shares in the company, valued at $190,481.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CFR. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $112.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $109.00 to $100.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cullen/Frost Bankers has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.93.

Cullen/Frost Bankers 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.