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

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

Cullen/Frost Bankers has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 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 Cullen/Frost Bankers stock opened at $142.34 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.66, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.98. Cullen/Frost Bankers has a 12 month low of $94.09 and a 12 month high of $147.64.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CFR shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $118.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cullen/Frost Bankers from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Maxim Group upped 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $121.00 to $117.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Cullen/Frost Bankers from $125.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cullen/Frost Bankers news, CEO Phillip D. Green sold 14,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 directly owns 94,423 shares in the company, valued at $13,026,597.08. This represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Howard L. Kasanoff sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were 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 owns 2,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $399,525.92. The trade was a 58.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,864 shares of company stock worth $2,977,033 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.89% of the company’s stock.

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.