Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 49,848 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lowered its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 399,953 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 49,848 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of Cullen/Frost Bankers worth $53,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 17,651 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,370,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 45.8% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 245 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,164 shares of the bank’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,086 shares of the bank’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,187 shares of the bank’s stock worth $294,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson cut Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $147.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from an “underperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $132.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $132.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Matthew Bradley Henson acquired 1,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.93 per share, with a total value of $31,659.10. Following the purchase, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,876.85. This trade represents a 50.88% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Performance

CFR stock opened at $124.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $131.09. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a one year low of $94.09 and a one year high of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The bank reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $560.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $540.57 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from Cullen/Frost Bankers’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.91%.

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.