Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.95 (NYSE:CFR)

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.95 per share by the bank on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th.

Cullen/Frost Bankers has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a dividend payout ratio of 44.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Cullen/Frost Bankers to earn $8.39 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 45.3%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CFR opened at $142.34 on Thursday. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 12 month low of $94.09 and a 12 month high of $147.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $125.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The bank reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $518.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.25 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers had a return on equity of 15.82% and a net margin of 18.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.38 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cullen/Frost Bankers

In related news, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total value of $553,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 2,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This represents a 58.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bobby Berman sold 3,506 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.31, for a total value of $442,842.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 26,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,367,550.91. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,864 shares of company stock valued at $2,977,033. Insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stephens lifted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.86.

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.