LGT Capital Partners LTD. Buys Shares of 185,110 M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. bought a new stake in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 185,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,803,000. M&T Bank comprises about 1.3% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amundi lifted its stake in M&T Bank by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 807,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,315,000 after acquiring an additional 244,709 shares during the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in M&T Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,355,000. Davis Selected Advisers lifted its stake in M&T Bank by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Davis Selected Advisers now owns 49,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in M&T Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Finally, Bradyco Inc. acquired a new stake in M&T Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MTB shares. Compass Point lifted their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $216.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.50 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, M&T Bank has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.68.

M&T Bank Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of M&T Bank stock opened at $178.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $194.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $191.77. M&T Bank Co. has a 52-week low of $133.03 and a 52-week high of $225.70.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.70 by $0.22. M&T Bank had a net margin of 19.24% and a return on equity of 10.12%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

M&T Bank announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

M&T Bank Profile

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: Business Banking, Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate, Discretionary Portfolio, Residential Mortgage Banking, and Retail Banking.