Fruth Investment Management Sells 300 Shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Fruth Investment Management trimmed its holdings in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,600 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 192.8% in the fourth quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 7,026 shares of the bank’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 4,626 shares during the last quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 4,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in the fourth quarter valued at about $576,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 1,052,290 shares of the bank’s stock worth $141,270,000 after acquiring an additional 94,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its stake in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 39,468 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,408 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total value of $1,603,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 102,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,355,819.70. This trade represents a 10.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $553,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This trade represents a 58.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 29,858 shares of company stock valued at $4,137,865. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $140.31 on Thursday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.09 and a 1-year high of $147.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The stock has a market cap of $9.00 billion, a PE ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.38.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.19. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a net margin of 18.81% and a return on equity of 16.04%. As a group, analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $138.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Monday. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Compass Point lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $122.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.31.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Company 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.