Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. CFR

Competitive advantage analysis · financial-services

Bank Specialized
Overall moat score
69/100
Moderate

About Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.

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. It also provides consumer banking … Full CFR analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Strong Capital Position Capital position is strong (score 0.92), exceeding regulatory minimums.
  • Strong Deposit Franchise Deposit franchise strength is evident (profitability score 0.71).

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

Upgrade to unlock the signals and evidence behind each defense.

Premium access

Unlock full defense analysis

Get key signals, strengths, and risks for every moat dimension.

Upgrade to Premium Unlock all moat defenses and evidence.

Deposit Franchise

Moderate
62

Where CFR ranks in Banks - Regional

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. ranks #69 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional by moat score — the top 18%. The widest moat in the group is 1st Source Corporation (SRCE) at 86/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near CFR in Banks - Regional
# Company Moat score Rating
65 California BanCorp BCAL 70/100 Moderate
66 Orrstown Financial Services, In ORRF 70/100 Moderate
67 First Horizon Corporation FHN 69/100 Moderate
68 Banco Santander - Chile BSAC 69/100 Moderate
69 Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. CFR 69/100 Moderate
70 First Community Bankshares, Inc FCBC 69/100 Moderate
71 TrustCo Bank Corp NY TRST 69/100 Moderate
72 First Financial Corporation Ind THFF 68/100 Moderate
73 East West Bancorp, Inc. EWBC 68/100 Moderate

See every Banks & Lenders company ranked by moat score →

How CFR scores on the Bank Specialized defenses

Deposit Franchise

Score 62 · 22% of the moat score

A deposit franchise is the cheapest and most valuable thing a bank can own.

Lending Advantage

Score 64 · 18% of the moat score

Lending advantage is the ability to originate loans at attractive spreads without buying that volume with looser credit standards.

Capital Strength

Score 92 · 20% of the moat score

Capital is the buffer between loan losses and insolvency, and it is what regulators judge a bank on first.

Cost Discipline

Score 55 · 16% of the moat score

Banking carries high fixed costs in branches, compliance and technology, so what it costs to run the bank relative to what the bank earns is a genuine competitive variable.

Revenue Diversification

Score 51 · 14% of the moat score

A bank earning everything from net interest income is a leveraged bet on the rate cycle.

Risk Management

Score 92 · 10% of the moat score

Risk management is the defense that only reveals itself late.

How each Bank Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding CFR's moat

What is Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.'s moat score?

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. (CFR) scores 69 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #69 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional, the top 18%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 399 companies in Banks - Regional. Its strongest defense is Capital Strength (92/100) and its weakest is Revenue Diversification (51/100).

How does Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. compare with other Banks - Regional companies?

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. ranks #69 of 393 scored companies in Banks - Regional by moat score. The widest moat in Banks - Regional is 1st Source Corporation (SRCE) at 86/100. The companies ranked closest are Banco Santander - Chile (BSAC) at 69 just above it and First Community Bankshares, Inc (FCBC) at 69 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Bank Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 399 companies in Banks - Regional. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. scored with the Bank Specialized template?

A bank does not sell a product at a margin. It funds itself, lends at a spread, and books profits that remain an estimate until the loans are actually repaid. That makes the usual margin-and-return questions misleading, so the Bank template scores what really determines a bank's durability: where its funding comes from, what it lends against, how much capital stands behind it, and whether it has been pricing risk honestly.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.?

The Bank Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and CFR scores: Deposit Franchise (62), Lending Advantage (64), Capital Strength (92), Cost Discipline (55), Revenue Diversification (51), Risk Management (92). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

Send Feedback
Please select a category.
0/1000