Short Interest in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) Expands By 30.0%

M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,680,000 shares, an increase of 30.0% from the February 13th total of 3,600,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Insider Activity at M&T Bank

In other news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total value of $299,526.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,852,827.34. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,110,412 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,652,899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761,014 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of M&T Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $317,690,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,773,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,562,725,000 after purchasing an additional 527,854 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,567,270 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $294,662,000 after buying an additional 286,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in M&T Bank during the fourth quarter worth $48,939,000. Institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Compass Point upped their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on M&T Bank from $216.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.03.

M&T Bank Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MTB traded down $0.60 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $174.82. The stock had a trading volume of 805,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,017,821. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.19. M&T Bank has a twelve month low of $133.03 and a twelve month high of $225.70. The firm has a market cap of $28.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $2.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that M&T Bank will post 16.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, January 22nd that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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