Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) was upgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $160.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $135.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 3.31% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $151.50.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $154.87 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $142.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $139.38. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a fifty-two week low of $119.00 and a fifty-two week high of $157.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The bank reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $574.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $587.28 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.58% and a net margin of 22.86%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 10.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total transaction of $124,118.73. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,885,062.48. This represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CFR. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the fourth quarter worth $92,904,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2,024.4% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 373,977 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $47,409,000 after buying an additional 356,373 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 16,676.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 353,470 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,760,000 after acquiring an additional 351,363 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 18.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,530,772 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $209,833,000 after acquiring an additional 236,808 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the third quarter valued at about $29,687,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

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.