Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stock Position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 588 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $12,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTB. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 13.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 12,349,398 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,199,675,000 after buying an additional 1,508,846 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 6.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,773,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,562,725,000 after buying an additional 527,854 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,289,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $994,522,000 after buying an additional 252,583 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new stake in shares of M&T Bank in the third quarter valued at about $44,422,000. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 807,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $154,315,000 after buying an additional 244,709 shares during the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

M&T Bank Stock Up 0.7 %

MTB stock opened at $178.19 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $190.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. M&T Bank Co. has a 12 month low of $133.03 and a 12 month high of $225.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 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 period last year, the firm earned $2.74 EPS. Equities analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

M&T Bank declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 22nd that permits the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 12.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MTB shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $269.00 to $253.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Compass Point increased their price target on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $223.50 price target (up from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.03.

Insider Activity at M&T Bank

In related news, EVP Christopher E. Kay sold 1,738 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.34, for a total transaction of $299,526.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

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.