Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. or M&T Bank Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation

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 services, such as checking accounts, automated-teller machines (ATMs), overdraft facilities, installment and real estate loans, first mortgage loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, drive-in and night deposit services, safe deposit facilities, and brokerage services. In addition, the company offers international banking services comprising deposits, loans, letters of credit, foreign collections, funds transmitting, and foreign exchange services; correspondent banking activities, including check clearing, transfer of funds, fixed income security services, and securities custody and clearance services. Further, it offers trust, investment, agency, and custodial services for individual and corporate clients; capital market services that include sales and trading, new issue underwriting, money market trading, advisory, and securities safekeeping and clearance; and support for international business activities, including foreign exchange, letters of credit, export-import financing, and other related activities. Additionally, the company offers insurance and securities brokerage services; holding of securities for investment purposes; and investment management services for mutual funds, institutions, and individuals. It serves energy, manufacturing, services, construction, retail, telecommunications, healthcare, military, and transportation industries. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. was founded in 1868 and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.

M&T Bank Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company and Wilmington Trust, National Association that provides retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, and Institutional Services and Wealth Management. It offers a range of credit products and banking services, such as commercial lending and leasing, letters of credits, deposit products, cash management services, commercial real estate loans, and credit facilities secured by various commercial real estate properties to middle-market and large commercial customers. The company also provides customers deposit products, including demand, savings and time accounts, and other services; automobile and recreational finance loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, credit cards, and other loan products, as well as residential mortgage and real estate loans; business loans, cash management, payroll, direct deposit, and merchant credit card services to consumers and small businesses through branch network, telephone banking, internet banking, and automated teller machines. In addition, it offers trustee, agency, investment management, and administrative services; personal trust, planning and advisory, fiduciary, asset management, family office, and other services; and investment products, including mutual funds and annuities, and other services for corporations and institutions, investment bankers, corporate tax, finance and legal executives, and other institutional clients. M&T Bank Corporation was founded in 1856 and is headquartered in Buffalo, New York.

Latest Banks and Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc., M&T Bank Corporation Stock News

As of July 31, 2026, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. had a $10.3 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $716.9 million. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.’s stock is up 31.4% in 2026, up 1.3% in the previous five trading days and up 24.1% in the past year.

Currently, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 16.2. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.2 billion with a 30.2% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $10.908 per share for the current fiscal year. Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. currently has a 2.5% dividend yield.

As of July 31, 2026, M&T Bank Corporation had a $35.7 billion market cap, putting it in the 91st percentile of all stocks. M&T Bank Corporation’s stock is up 22.2% in 2026, down 1.3% in the previous five trading days and up 28.58% in the past year.

Currently, M&T Bank Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 13.8. M&T Bank Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $9.3 billion with a 32.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 5.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $19.308 per share for the current fiscal year. M&T Bank Corporation currently has a 2.4% dividend yield.

How We Compare Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

Learn more about A+ Investor here!

Sign Up to Receive a Free Special Report Showing How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Smarter Investment Decisions

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.	CFR	C
M&T Bank Corporation	MTB	B

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a Value Score of 45, which is Average. M&T Bank Corporation has a Value Score of 69, which is Value.

The Value Stock Winner: M&T Bank Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, M&T Bank Corporation is considered to have better value than Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, M&T Bank Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.	CFR	A
M&T Bank Corporation	MTB	A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a Growth Score of 89, which is Very Strong. M&T Bank Corporation has a Growth Score of 83, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Growth Grade breakdown above, both Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s upward growth, further research should be conducted into both companies’ other financial metrics before deciding whether to invest.

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc.	CFR	D
M&T Bank Corporation	MTB	D

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. has a Quality Score of 35, which is Weak. M&T Bank Corporation has a Quality Score of 32, which is Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. or M&T Bank Corporation has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. or M&T Bank Corporation is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Other Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation Grades

In addition to Value, Growth and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Estimate Revisions.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. or M&T Bank Corporation Stock?

Overall, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 45, Growth Score of 89 and Quality Score of 35.

M&T Bank Corporation stock has a Value Score of 69, Growth Score of 83 and Quality Score of 32.

Comparing Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. and M&T Bank Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.