Stock Repurchase Plan Authorized by M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) Board

M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, January 22nd, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 12.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MTB shares. Wolfe Research raised shares of M&T Bank from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on 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. Bank of America upped their target price 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. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $223.50 price target (up previously from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $221.68.

M&T Bank Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MTB opened at $198.81 on Friday. M&T Bank has a 12-month low of $128.31 and a 12-month high of $225.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.79.

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, 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 last year, the company earned $2.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that M&T Bank will post 16.56 EPS for the current year.

M&T Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. M&T Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.91%.

Insider Transactions at M&T Bank

In related news, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total transaction of $537,566.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,429 shares in the company, valued at $3,546,856.81. This trade represents a 13.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Rene F. Jones sold 23,071 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.88, for a total value of $4,473,005.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,972,576.88. The trade was a 23.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 64,994 shares of company stock worth $13,331,878. Company insiders own 0.82% 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.