Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 6,300 M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of M&T Bank Co. (NYSE:MTB) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,300 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,184,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MTB. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of M&T Bank in the third quarter worth $71,000. Creative Planning grew its stake in M&T Bank by 8.5% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,206,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in M&T Bank by 11.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 66,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,793,000 after acquiring an additional 6,552 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in M&T Bank by 14.8% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,167 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in M&T Bank by 44.7% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 1,513 shares in the last quarter. 84.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

M&T Bank Price Performance

M&T Bank stock opened at $197.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $195.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $189.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.99 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 released its 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 period last year, the firm posted $2.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that M&T Bank Co. will post 16.57 EPS for the current year.

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

M&T Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. M&T Bank’s payout ratio is 36.91%.

Insider Activity at M&T Bank

In related news, EVP Tracy S. Woodrow sold 2,121 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.75, for a total transaction of $468,210.75. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,141 shares in the company, valued at $1,134,875.75. This trade represents a 29.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Gary N. Geisel sold 2,490 shares of M&T Bank stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.89, for a total transaction of $537,566.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,429 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,546,856.81. The trade was a 13.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MTB. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $205.00 to $243.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of M&T Bank from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $223.50 target price (up from $215.00) on shares of M&T Bank in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of M&T Bank from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $221.68.

M&T Bank Profile

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.