DA Davidson cautious on M&T Bank stock despite credit and capital improvements

Published 17/01/2025, 11:44
DA Davidson cautious on M&T Bank stock despite credit and capital improvements

On Friday, DA Davidson set a new price target for M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) shares, increasing it slightly to $223 from $222, while retaining a Neutral stance on the stock. The firm's analyst, Peter Winter, acknowledged several positive trends in the bank's fourth-quarter performance and its outlook for 2025. Notably, M&T Bank showed continued improvement in credit metrics, with a significant reduction in nonperforming assets (NPAs) and criticized loans.

Winter highlighted the bank's strengthening capital ratios, which are now at the higher end compared to its peers. He also mentioned that M&T Bank is expected to significantly increase its share buyback program, boosting it to over $2 billion compared to the $400 million in 2024.

Despite the optimistic developments, DA Davidson forecasts that M&T Bank will achieve a positive operating leverage of around 101 basis points, which is at the lower end of the bank's own December guidance range of 100 to 150 basis points. This conservative estimate is partly due to anticipated higher expense growth, despite solid fourth-quarter trends that were better than what M&T Bank had indicated in its mid-quarter update.

DA Davidson's revised price target of $223 is based on a target price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 12.6 times the firm's 2026 earnings per share estimate for M&T Bank. The new target reflects only a marginal increase from the previous target, with the Neutral rating suggesting that the analyst sees limited upside potential for the stock at this time.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

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