About Cullen/Frost Bankers
Cullen/Frost is headquartered in San Antonio and serves customers throughout Texas.
Photo courtesy Anne Swoboda/flickr.com.
Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. is a financial holding company and a bank holding company with 116 financial centers across Texas. Cullen/Frost provides various banking and financial services to individuals and businesses across Texas, including personal and business banking, financial advisory services – including Frost-branded mutual funds – and property, casualty and employee benefits insurance. Notably, Cullen/Frost does not offer residential mortgages, having gotten out of the business in 2000 after assessing that they were effectively commodities. This decision helped the company avoid problems during the recession of 2007 – 2008.
Cullen/Frost has a legacy that dates back to a mercantile partnership that was organized in 1868. In 1899, Frost Bank (which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cullen/Frost) was chartered as a national banking association. Cullen/Frost has been publicly traded since 1977, starting on the NASDAQ and then switching to the NYSE in 1997. In 2012, the company switched from a national bank charter to a state charter, restricting its operations to Texas.
The company, which as 4000 employees and is one of 24 components of the KBW Bank Index, has grown its banking operations primarily through organic growth. However, in August 2013 Cullen/Frost agreed to merge with WNB Bancshares, Inc. in order to expand into the growing Permian Basin of Texas. This area lies west of Dallas and includes the cities of Midland and Odessa.
The company is a member of the S&P Mid Cap 400 index and S&P’s High Yield Dividend Aristocrats index, and trades under the ticker symbol CFR.
Cullen/Frost’s Dividend and Stock Split History
Cullen/Frost Bankers paid dividends briefly in the mid-1980s, and then resumed dividend payments in 1993. Since then, they have increased dividends annually. Cullen/Frost traditionally announces increases in April, with the stock going ex-dividend in May.
Cullen/Frost has compounded its payout at an average rate of 3.4% over the last 5 years and 3.9% over the last 10 years.
Cullen/Frost Bankers has split its stock 3 times since beginning regular dividend payouts in 1993. The company paid a stock dividend of 10% in February 1993 and had two 2-for-1 stock splits in June 1996 and June 1999.
Cullen/Frost’s Direct Purchase and Dividend Reinvestment Plans
Cullen/Frost does not have either a direct purchase or dividend reinvestment plan. You can purchase Cullen/Frost shares through a brokerage at a nominal fee and most brokerages will allow you to reinvest dividends for the shares you own. Contact your brokerage directly for more information.
Helpful Links
Cullen/Frost Bankers’ Investor Relations Website
Current quote and financial summary for Cullen/Frost Bankers (finviz.com)