Short Interest in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) Grows By 27.6%

M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,340,000 shares, a growth of 27.6% from the November 15th total of 3,400,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John P. Barnes sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.97, for a total value of $3,879,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,690,741.20. This trade represents a 28.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total transaction of $468,210.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,141 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,875.75. This trade represents a 29.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 84,994 shares of company stock worth $17,211,278 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of M&T Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in M&T Bank by 3.5% in the third quarter. Smead Capital Management Inc. now owns 493,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $87,959,000 after purchasing an additional 16,657 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in M&T Bank by 5.2% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 268,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,761,000 after buying an additional 13,302 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MTB. Barclays upped their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $170.00 to $228.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on M&T Bank from $210.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on M&T Bank from $190.00 to $208.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on M&T Bank from $188.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $223.50 price objective (up from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.58.

M&T Bank Price Performance

Shares of MTB stock traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $199.80. 1,433,547 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,044,505. M&T Bank has a fifty-two week low of $128.31 and a fifty-two week high of $225.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $203.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $176.47. The company has a market cap of $33.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.76.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.60 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $2.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. M&T Bank had a return on equity of 9.52% and a net margin of 17.82%. Sell-side analysts forecast that M&T Bank will post 14.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.70%. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is 39.97%.

About M&T Bank

M&T Bank Corporation operates as a bank holding company for Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company and Wilmington Trust, National Association that engages in the provision of retail and commercial banking products and services in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Commercial Bank, Retail Bank, and Institutional Services and Wealth Management.