6.2

In Line - Price 55.96 on Dec. 23
by Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller
M&T will acquire Provident Bankshares in an all-stock deal valued at $401 million (exchange ratio, 0.172). The purchase price per share is 10.50 -- a 37% premium to PBKS' 20-day average price, 1.4 times stated tangible book....The deal's expected to close 2Q09. [We see the deal's] premium as surprising, given the stress [in] Provident's...investment securities. We're lowering our '08E-EPS to $5.64 from $5.78, [due to] higher credit costs, and cutting 2009E-EPS to $4.30 from $5.40 to account for the deal, higher credit costs, and [Troubled Asset Relief Program] capital. We're reducing our target to 50 (1.6 times '09 projected TB). Market cap: $6.2 billion.

They Just Don't Get Daily Dips!: Marek Fuchs takes Reuters to task for calling a resilient market sagging, even though it was down a grand total of .4%.

Click here to watch the video.

3.8%

Focus List -- Price 85.86 on April 16
by McAdams Wright Ragen
1Q08 EPS was $1.82, with a 26-cent benefit from Visa IPO. Excluding it, results [matched] consensus $1.56... . Fundamentals for the quarter were ... quite solid, all things considered; we expect MTB to continue performing strongly by sticking to its knitting... . Our two-year target is 129, based on 16.6 times our FY09 EPS estimate and 2 times our FY09 projected book value of about 66. Market cap: $9.5 billion.

M&T Bank (MTB) was upgraded from Sell to Hold, Citigroup said. $75 price target. Company missed fourth quarter expectations, but underlying credit trends remain steady. Estimates still cut through 2009, to reflect a lower net interest margin.

M&T Bank (MTB) was downgraded from Neutral to Sell, Merrill Lynch said. Company faces higher credit losses in 2008. There's also the potential for a sizable mezzanine sub-prime CDO writedown.

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13.65

2.70%
Buffett