M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) has released its second quarter fiscal 2015 financial results today, posting earnings per share of $1.98, beating the market’s’ expectations by $0.02. Wall Street was expecting earnings per share of $1.96 for the second quarter on quarterly revenues of $1.13 billion. The net income was slightly up in the second quarter to $287 million from the net income of $284 million earned in the second quarter of last year. It is important to note that the financial service company was unable to meet the market’s earnings expectations in the first quarter, posting EPS of $1.65 against market estimates of $1.76. While discussing the second quarter financial results, René F. Jones, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of M&T Bank, said, “M&T’s results for the second quarter reflect strong activity in our commercial loan portfolios, as we experienced 10% annualized growth in balances and significantly higher loan syndication fees as compared with the first quarter. Charge-offs remained at historically low levels and expenses during the quarter were again well-contained…”
The shares of M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) have remained stable throughout the year, with a year-to-date drop of 0.08%. Smart money held a somewhat bearish outlook towards the shares of the finance company during the first quarter , as 20 hedge fund investors held $895.50 million in the firm’s shares compared to holdings of $882.75 million from 24 investors on December 31. While aggregate holdings did increase slightly, it was largely due to the appreciation of shares by just over 1% during the quarter.
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Contrary to the hedge fund sentiment for the stock of M&T Bank Corporation, insiders are bullish and expect growth in the company. Robert Brady, Director at M&T Bank Corp., purchased 8,000 shares of the company on March 2 at a per share price of $121.35.
For a better understanding of the hedge fund activity, let’s go over the latest action encompassing M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB).
How are hedge funds trading M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB)?
At the end of the first quarter, a total of 20 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were bullish in this stock, a drop of four investors from one quarter earlier. With hedge funds’ capital changing hands, there exists a few notable hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes substantially.
According to hedge fund experts at Insider Monkey, Berkshire Hathaway, managed by Warren Buffett, holds the number one position in M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB). Berkshire Hathaway has a $683.5 million position in the stock consisting of 5.38 million shares, and comprising 0.6% of its massive 13F portfolio. Sitting second is Citadel Investment Group, led by Ken Griffin, holding a $48.4 million position of 381,341 shares; the fund has 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Other hedgies that hold long positions encompass David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, and Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management.
Due to the fact that M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) has witnessed bearish sentiment from the aggregate hedge fund industry, logic holds that there is a sect of hedge funds who sold off their full holdings in the first quarter. Intriguingly, Robert Emil Zoellner’s Alpine Associates cut the largest stake of all the hedgies watched by Insider Monkey, worth about $6 million in stock. Matthew Halbower of Pentwater Capital Management was right behind this move, as the fund sold off about $5.7 million worth of shares. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest fell by four funds in the first quarter.
Considering bullish insider sentiment and positive second quarter financial results of M&T Bank, we recommend a buy for the shares of the financial institution.
Disclosure: None
