M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MTB. Evercore downgraded M&T Bank from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Truist Financial set a $230.00 price objective on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of M&T Bank from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, M&T Bank currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.50.

M&T Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MTB opened at $221.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $216.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. M&T Bank has a one year low of $150.75 and a one year high of $239.00. The firm has a market cap of $33.05 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.60.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $4.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.47 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.47 billion. M&T Bank had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 21.55%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that M&T Bank will post 16.57 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John P. Barnes sold 21,193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.85, for a total transaction of $4,998,369.05. Following the transaction, the director owned 15,142 shares in the company, valued at $3,571,240.70. This represents a 58.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kirk W. Walters sold 909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.37, for a total transaction of $206,679.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,358,763.12. The trade was a 13.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 46,105 shares of company stock valued at $10,347,871. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of M&T Bank during the fourth quarter valued at $708,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in M&T Bank during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Quantitative Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in M&T Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,769,000. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 171.2% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 5,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of M&T Bank by 35.4% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 396,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $79,954,000 after purchasing an additional 103,692 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.68% of the company’s stock.

M&T Bank Company Profile

M&T Bank Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Buffalo, New York, that provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions. The company operates a commercial and retail banking franchise that includes deposit-taking, lending, and payment services delivered through branch networks, digital channels and commercial banking teams. M&T serves customers across the northeastern and mid‑Atlantic United States and has expanded its geographic footprint through strategic acquisitions.

Its core businesses include commercial banking for middle‑market and community businesses, consumer and retail banking, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury and cash management, and wealth management and trust services.