Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 114 Shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 114 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 578,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $102,999,000 after purchasing an additional 61,375 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 45.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,481 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,986,000 after purchasing an additional 6,717 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 35,975 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of M&T Bank by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 4,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Stock Down 0.6%

M&T Bank stock opened at $185.39 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.58. M&T Bank Co. has a 52 week low of $139.78 and a 52 week high of $225.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $170.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $189.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.41 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.35 billion. M&T Bank had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 19.24%. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current year.

M&T Bank announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, January 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total transaction of $299,526.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,852,827.34. This trade represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on M&T Bank from $235.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on M&T Bank from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on M&T Bank from $234.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on M&T Bank from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, M&T Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $208.24.

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: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, Institutional Services and Wealth Management, and All Other.