Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.19 EPS

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $2.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.19, Zacks reports. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Stock Down 0.8 %

CFR opened at $139.39 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $137.88 and a 200-day moving average of $124.76. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a fifty-two week low of $94.09 and a fifty-two week high of $147.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.15%.

Insider Activity

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total transaction of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $399,525.92. The trade was a 58.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total value of $1,980,829.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at $13,026,597.08. This trade represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CFR has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Friday. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $129.00.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers

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.