Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,088 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Cullen/Frost Bankers were worth $1,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 611,722 shares of the bank’s stock worth $82,124,000 after purchasing an additional 14,422 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $15,439,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT boosted its position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 5,250 shares of the bank’s stock worth $705,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers during the 4th quarter worth approximately $265,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of CFR opened at $136.96 on Friday. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.09 and a twelve month high of $147.64. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $138.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a PEG ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 20.44% and a return on equity of 15.95%. Equities analysts forecast that Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. will post 8.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.77%. Cullen/Frost Bankers’s payout ratio is 42.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CFR has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $140.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Compass Point increased 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $144.00 target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cullen/Frost Bankers presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.54.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul Bracher sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.45, for a total value of $1,603,675.00. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

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.