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

M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,680,000 shares, a growth of 30.0% from the February 13th total of 3,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company's stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at M&T Bank

In other news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 owns 10,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,852,827.34. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On M&T Bank

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 14.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the fourth quarter worth approximately $317,690,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 6.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,567,270 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $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 valued at approximately $48,939,000. 84.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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M&T Bank Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE MTB traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $177.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 526,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,018,013. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. M&T Bank has a 1-year low of $133.03 and a 1-year high of $225.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $191.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.00. 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 - Get Free Report) 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that M&T Bank will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, January 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MTB. Barclays upped their price objective on M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson increased their price target on M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on M&T Bank from $234.00 to $205.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded M&T Bank from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Compass Point raised their target price on M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $222.03.

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.