M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup downgraded M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Compass Point lifted 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.68.

M&T Bank Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MTB opened at $200.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $33.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.79. M&T Bank has a 12 month low of $128.31 and a 12 month high of $225.70. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last released 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 return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 19.24%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that M&T Bank will post 16.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 22nd that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other M&T Bank news, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total value of $468,210.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,134,875.75. This represents a 29.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Vice Chairman Kevin J. Pearson sold 7,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.88, for a total transaction of $1,469,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 40,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,933,531.76. The trade was a 15.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 38,487 shares of company stock valued at $8,182,809. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On M&T Bank

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in M&T Bank by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of M&T Bank in the third quarter worth $44,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in M&T Bank by 1.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 199,111 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,466,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in M&T Bank by 3.5% during the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 493,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $87,959,000 after purchasing an additional 16,657 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in M&T Bank by 6.1% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 50,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,955,000 after buying an additional 2,883 shares in the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

M&T Bank Company 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.