Here’s Why Ariel Global Purchased M&T Bank Corporation (MTB) in Q3

Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Global Fund” third-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Global equities rallied in the third quarter, driven by AI enthusiasm, resilient corporate earnings, the first U.S. rate cut of the year, and targeted policy easing across key regions. Against this backdrop, the Ariel Global fund traded +4.99% higher in the quarter, compared to the +7.62% return of the MSCI ACWI Index and +6.13% return of the MSCI ACWI Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its third-quarter 2025 investor letter, Ariel Global Fund highlighted stocks such as M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB). M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) is a bank holding company for Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company and Wilmington Trust, National Association. The one-month return of M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) was -0.01%, and its shares gained 14.72% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 18, 2025, M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) stock closed at $182.10 per share, with a market capitalization of $28.457 billion.

Ariel Global Fund stated the following regarding M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) in its third quarter 2025 investor letter:

“We purchased M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB), a regionally focused commercial bank with strong local scale in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Its strategy prioritizes density over national expansion, with selective acquisitions like the successful People’s merger enhancing its deposit base. The bank has actively reduced risk in its commercial real estate portfolio and leverages unique agency licenses to generate fee income. M&T is also well-positioned to benefit from partnerships in private credit. While near-term credit risks remain, especially in commercial real estate, the bank’s consistent operating leverage and above-peer returns support a favorable long-term outlook.”

M&T Bank Corporation (MTB): One of the Top Dividend Challengers in 2025

M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 45 hedge fund portfolios held M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) at the end of the second quarter, compared to 52 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

In another article, we covered M&T Bank Corporation (NYSE:MTB) and shared the list of best high-yield dividend stocks for steady cash flow. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.