5 Best May Dividend Stocks To Buy

3. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR)

Ex-Dividend Date: May 30
Dividend Yield as of April 27: 2.42%

A Texas-based commercial banking company, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) is next on our list of the best dividend stocks. JPMorgan maintained an Overweight rating on the stock in April with a $123 price target, expressing concerns regarding the banking sector in the current environment.

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.87 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.42%, as of April 27. The company has been raising its dividends consistently for the past 29 years, which makes it one of the best dividend stocks on our list. It will be going ex-dividend on May 30.

At the end of December 2022, 28 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported having stakes in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR), up from 25 in the preceding quarter. These stakes have a collective value of roughly $220 million.

Aristotle Capital Management, LLC mentioned Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR) in its Q3 2022 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (NYSE:CFR), the Texas‐based bank, was a top contributor for the quarter. The regional bank reported its fifth straight quarter of zero provisioning costs, and its net interest income grew 16% sequentially. Due to its relatively low loan‐to‐deposit ratio, higher core‐deposit base and mix of floating‐rate loans relative to peers, we believe Cullen/Frost has been well positioned to benefit when interest rates increase. The bank is continuing to execute on its expansions in Houston and Dallas—a catalyst for the business—exceeding its loan and deposit growth goals in each of these markets. While the Dallas expansion is still in its early stages, we expect it could be even more attractive than Houston given Dallas’s diverse middle‐market commercial client base. Management has also confirmed it will be moving forward on plans to both originate and service mortgage loans, with anticipation of a pilot program launch by the end of 2022. This should serve to further diversify its loan book. Lastly, with its operations solely in Texas, Cullen/Frost prides itself on its relationship‐based approach to banking and strong customerloyalty. Thisis, in our opinion, an important competitive advantage and a differentiator versus larger peers that have a national presence. As such, the bank has continued to see deposits grow and has not yet faced the same deposit pressure seen by many peers—a sign of the relationships that Cullen/Frost has built.”