At a glance
Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc is worth $9.76B, about 16 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 8.3% to $2.24B in fiscal 2025, with 29.0% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 9.2% a year. It pays a 2.59% dividend yield, raised every year for at least 9 years, and returned $1.40B to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +31.2% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +6.9% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 47.4% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 21.3% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 10 months and 4 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
Cullen/Frost Bankers, based in San Antonio, is the parent company of Frost Bank, which traces its roots to 1868. Frost serves businesses and individuals through about 204 financial centers in the Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Gulf Coast, Houston, Permian Basin and San Antonio regions of Texas, plus about 1,760 ATMs. Total assets were $53.0 billion at December 31, 2025.
Most of its money comes from net interest income: the gap between the interest it earns on loans and bonds and the interest it pays on deposits. In fiscal 2025 that was $1.74 billion of $2.24 billion in total revenue. The other $499 million was noninterest income. That is fees from services such as treasury management (helping companies handle cash and payments), merchant card processing, insurance, brokerage and trust. Lending leans toward businesses. Commercial, energy, construction and commercial real estate loans made up 80.9% of the loan book at December 31, 2025. Frost also acts as banker to about 178 other financial institutions, mostly Texas banks.
It reports two segments. Banking produced $2.03 billion, about 91% of fiscal 2025 revenue. Frost Wealth Advisors, the wealth management arm, produced $217 million, nearly 10%. At December 31, 2025, Frost's trust business looked after client assets worth an estimated $51.0 billion. It managed $26.7 billion of that and held the rest for safekeeping.
Price history
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CFR +31.2% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
How it makes money
By business segment
| Banking | $2.03B | 90.9% |
| Frost Wealth Advisors | $217.3M | 9.7% |
Latest results
- In Q3 FY2026 (ended Sep 30, 2026), revenue was $603.8M, up 6.4% from a year earlier, and net income was $180.2M (+3.3%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $2.24B (+8.3% year over year; +9.2% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 29% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +9.2% good |
|---|---|
| Return on equity | 14.2% good |
| Net income / revenue | 29% good |
| Deposits | $44.22B |
| Loans | $23.37B |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $1.44B | $331.2M | — |
| FY2021 | $1.37B | $443.1M | — |
| FY2022 | $1.70B | $579.1M | — |
| FY2023 | $1.99B | $598.0M | — |
| FY2024 | $2.06B | $582.5M | — |
| FY2025 | $2.24B | $648.6M | — |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $9.76B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 15.8 |
| Dividend yield | 2.59% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
Cullen/Frost Bankers’s market value went from $5.55B at the end of 2016 to $9.76B on Oct 28, 2026, up 76%; since the end of 2025 it is up 21%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $9.76B | +20.6% |
| 2025 | $8.10B | -6.0% |
| 2024 | $8.61B | +23.9% |
| 2023 | $6.95B | -19.2% |
| 2022 | $8.60B | +7.0% |
| 2021 | $8.03B | +46.5% |
| 2020 | $5.48B | -10.4% |
| 2019 | $6.12B | +8.8% |
| 2018 | $5.62B | -5.9% |
| 2017 | $5.98B | +7.6% |
| 2016 | $5.55B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFR price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +26.6% | +31.2% | +24.7% | +6.9% | +10.8% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +26.6% |
| 2025 | -2.8% |
| 2024 | +29.0% |
| 2023 | -16.1% |
| 2022 | +8.6% |
| 2021 | +48.2% |
| 2020 | -7.5% |
| 2019 | +14.6% |
| 2018 | -4.8% |
| 2017 | +9.9% |
| 2016 | +52.0% |
| 2015 | -12.4% |
| 2014 | -2.5% |
| 2013 | +41.3% |
| 2012 | +6.1% |
| 2011 | -10.4% |
| 2010 | +26.4% |
| 2009 | +2.3% |
| 2008 | +3.1% |
| 2007 | -6.6% |
| 2006 | +6.5% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 24.8% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 40.6%, back to its old high 13.8 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 46.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 47.4%, back to its old high 9.5 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Gained 9% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 21.3%, back to its old high 4 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-11-03 to 2026-11-03 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 1 sales ($378K).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 30, 2026 | Bobby Berman GEVP Research & Strategy | sell | $378K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Aristotle Capital Management, LLC | 7.54% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 5.13% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| STATE STREET CORPORATION | 5.1% | Jun 30, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.05% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Champlain Investment Partners, LLC | 4.2% | Dec 31, 2024 |
ETFs with the most weight in CFR
| FDIQ Invesco Bloomberg Financial Data Providers ETF | 3.59% |
| SMCO Hilton Small-MidCap Opportunity ETF | 2.05% |
| KRE SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF | 1.84% |
| IAT iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF | 1.61% |
| FSGS First Trust SMID Growth Strength ETF | 0.93% |
| FSCS First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF | 0.87% |
| SDVD FT Vest SMID Rising Dividend Achievers Target Income ETF | 0.85% |
| QDF FlexShares Quality Dividend Index Fund | 0.45% |
What could go wrong
- Heavy dependence on the Texas economy. Frost Bank's roughly 204 financial centers are spread across Texas. The 10-K says profitability depends significantly on the state's economy, so a Texas recession could hurt loans, deposits and fee income at once.
- Swings in crude oil prices. Frost lends to energy companies and operates in the Permian Basin, a major oil-producing region. A sharp oil-price slump could strain energy borrowers and the wider Texas economy at the same time.
- Loan book tilted toward large business loans. At December 31, 2025, 80.9% of loans were business, energy, construction or commercial real estate loans. These are usually larger and riskier than home or consumer loans, so a few defaults can hurt earnings.
- Commercial real estate weakness. Loans secured by industrial and commercial properties depend on rents and property values. If that market weakens, borrowers may struggle to repay and the buildings backing the loans may be worth less.
- Paper losses on its bond holdings. When interest rates rise, the bonds a bank owns lose value. If Frost had to sell them to cover heavy withdrawals, those paper losses would become real and could strain its liquidity, or ready cash.
- Interest rate changes can squeeze profits. Most revenue is net interest income. If rates paid on deposits rise faster than rates earned on loans and bonds, or loan rates fall faster than deposit costs, profits shrink.
Recent events
- Listing notice from the exchange; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Quarterly results released
- Shareholder vote results
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
Cullen/Frost has raised its regular dividend at least 9 years in a row through fiscal 2025, and the true streak may be longer. Dividends per share rose from $2.85 in fiscal 2020 to $3.95 in fiscal 2025, about 6.7% a year. The fiscal 2025 dividend used 39.4% of earnings (free cash flow is not a meaningful measure for banks). The yield was 2.59% as of October 28, 2026. Buybacks were smaller: $269.7 million over fiscal 2021–2025, including $157.8 million in fiscal 2025, against $1.13 billion in dividends. The share count fell 2.5% from October 2021 to July 2026.
The shares have fallen hard in crashes. They dropped 40.6% in the 2008 financial crisis and regained their peak about 14 months after the low. In the 2020 COVID crash they fell 47.4% and were back by January 2021. The 2022 drop of 21.3% took about four months to recover. A single bank stock tied to the Texas economy carries more risk than a diversified fund.
Questions investors ask
How does Cullen/Frost make money?
Mostly from interest. Like most banks, it earns net interest income, the gap between the interest it collects on loans and bonds and the interest it pays on deposits. That brought in $1.74 billion of its $2.24 billion revenue in fiscal 2025. The other $499 million came from fees for services such as trust and investment management, insurance, brokerage and treasury management. By segment, Banking produced about 91% of revenue and Frost Wealth Advisors nearly 10%.
Does Cullen/Frost raise its dividend every year?
It has for at least 9 years in a row through fiscal 2025, and the true streak may be longer. Dividends per share reached $3.95 in fiscal 2025, up from $2.85 in fiscal 2020, and used 39.4% of that year's earnings. The yield was 2.59% as of October 28, 2026. The company's 10-K warns that it may not keep paying dividends on its common stock, so past increases are not a promise.
Is Frost Bank only in Texas?
Its branches are. Frost Bank runs about 204 financial centers across Texas, in the Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Gulf Coast, Houston, Permian Basin and San Antonio regions, plus about 1,760 ATMs around the state. It also offers international banking to customers living in, or doing business with companies in, Mexico, mostly in US dollars. The 10-K says the company's profitability depends significantly on the Texas economy, so a downturn in the state would weigh on results.
How has Cullen/Frost stock performed?
Well over the past year, more modestly over five years. As of October 28, 2026, its price-based return was 31.2% over one year, 6.9% a year over five years and 10.8% a year over ten years. Calendar years swing widely: up 29.0% in 2024, down 16.1% in 2023 and down 2.8% in 2025. Its deepest peak-to-trough fall in about 21 years of price history was 56.8%. Past returns do not predict future ones.
How big is Cullen/Frost Bankers?
Its 10-K calls it one of the largest independent bank holding companies headquartered in Texas. At June 30, 2026, it had $53.9 billion in assets, $43.3 billion in deposits and $22.7 billion in loans. Its stock market value was about $9.8 billion as of October 28, 2026, or 15.8 times fiscal 2025 earnings. It earned $648.6 million in fiscal 2025, a 14.2% return on equity, which measures profit against the money shareholders have in the company.