AGF Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) by 34.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 42,781 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in M&T Bank were worth $31,734,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MTB. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 2,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $404,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of M&T Bank in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 29.9% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 2,077 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $391,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 21,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,127,000 after buying an additional 1,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of M&T Bank by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,451,000 after buying an additional 877 shares during the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

M&T Bank Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE MTB opened at $171.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.06. The company has a market cap of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.74. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $133.03 and a 12-month high of $225.70.

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The financial services provider reported $3.92 earnings per share (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 prior year, the business posted $2.74 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MTB. StockNews.com upgraded shares of M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup downgraded shares of M&T Bank from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $228.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Compass Point lifted their price objective on shares of M&T Bank from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.