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

M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,580,000 shares, a drop of 17.5% from the November 30th total of 4,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,150,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MTB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $223.50 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research raised shares of M&T Bank from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on M&T Bank from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on M&T Bank from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, M&T Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $215.50.

M&T Bank Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of M&T Bank stock traded down $1.80 on Friday, hitting $189.23. The stock had a trading volume of 506,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,052,930. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. M&T Bank has a one year low of $128.31 and a one year high of $225.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $179.01. The stock has a market cap of $31.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.76.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.60 by $0.48. M&T Bank had a net margin of 17.82% and a return on equity of 9.52%. The business had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that M&T Bank will post 14.63 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Rene F. Jones sold 23,071 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.88, for a total transaction of $4,473,005.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,226 shares in the company, valued at $14,972,576.88. The trade was a 23.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John P. Barnes sold 20,000 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.97, for a total value of $3,879,400.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 49,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,690,741.20. This represents a 28.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 84,994 shares of company stock worth $17,211,278 in the last quarter. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in M&T Bank by 13.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,349,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,199,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508,846 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in M&T Bank by 6.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,773,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,562,725,000 after buying an additional 527,854 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in M&T Bank by 3.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,037,144 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $897,216,000 after buying an additional 190,837 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in M&T Bank by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,329,814 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $768,824,000 after acquiring an additional 66,337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in M&T Bank by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,781,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $269,696,000 after acquiring an additional 81,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

About M&T Bank

M&T Bank Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company and Wilmington Trust, National Association that engages in the provision of 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.