Virtus Advisers LLC Purchases Shares of 5,126 Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. $CFR

Virtus Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,126 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $792,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 248 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 40.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 366 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $168.00 to $176.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $158.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson increased their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $143.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.75.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CFR opened at $165.06 on Friday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.00 and a fifty-two week high of $170.80. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $159.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.53.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The bank reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $576.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $589.72 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 23.34% and a return on equity of 15.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.39 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 10.8 EPS for the current year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $1.03 dividend. This represents a $4.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carol Jean Severyn sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.29, for a total value of $124,118.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,712 shares in the company, valued at $1,885,062.48. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Profile

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.