M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) Short Interest Update

M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,150,000 shares, a drop of 31.7% from the March 15th total of 4,610,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other M&T Bank news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total value of $299,526.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,751 shares in the company, valued at $1,852,827.34. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of M&T Bank

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MTB. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,110,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,652,899,000 after buying an additional 1,761,014 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $317,690,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 18,471.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 705,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $126,145,000 after acquiring an additional 701,905 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,567,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,662,000 after purchasing an additional 286,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in M&T Bank in the fourth quarter worth $48,939,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Price Performance

Shares of MTB traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $160.09. 1,105,142 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,111,223. M&T Bank has a 52-week low of $139.78 and a 52-week high of $225.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $177.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.23.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.35 billion. M&T Bank had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 19.24%. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.09 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that M&T Bank will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is currently 36.17%.

M&T Bank announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTB has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on M&T Bank from $234.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $269.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on M&T Bank from $212.50 to $186.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on M&T Bank from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, M&T Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $208.14.

About M&T Bank

M&T Bank Corp. operates as a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking, trust, wealth management, and investment services. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, Institutional Services and Wealth Management, and All Other.