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

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.95 per share by the bank on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th.

Cullen/Frost Bankers has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 32 consecutive years. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a dividend payout ratio of 42.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Cullen/Frost Bankers to earn $8.52 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 44.6%.

Cullen/Frost Bankers Price Performance

CFR stock traded down $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $139.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 619,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 480,801. The company has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $137.94 and its 200-day moving average is $124.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 1 year low of $94.09 and a 1 year high of $147.64.

Cullen/Frost Bankers (NYSE:CFR) last posted 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 18.81% and a return on equity of 15.82%. On average, research analysts expect that Cullen/Frost Bankers will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $138.34, for a total transaction of $553,360.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,525.92. This represents a 58.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.96, for a total transaction of $1,980,829.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at $13,026,597.08. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on CFR shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $144.00 price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers in a research note on Friday. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $138.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.