LGT Capital Partners LTD. Acquires New Holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

LGT Capital Partners LTD. bought a new stake in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 185,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $34,803,000. M&T Bank accounts for approximately 1.3% of LGT Capital Partners LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. LGT Capital Partners LTD. owned approximately 0.11% of M&T Bank as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MTB. FMR LLC increased its stake in M&T Bank by 13.9% during the 3rd 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 period. State Street Corp increased its stake in M&T Bank by 6.4% during the 3rd 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 period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in M&T Bank by 5.0% during the 4th 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 period. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in M&T Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,422,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in M&T Bank by 43.5% during the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MTB opened at $178.62 on Friday. M&T Bank Co. has a one year low of $133.03 and a one year high of $225.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $194.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $191.77. The stock has a market cap of $29.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current year.

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.91%.

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 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MTB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.50 price objective (up previously from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $222.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Monday, November 25th. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $221.68.

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.