I suppose not every company can have a CEO who wants to rail against the world and get gobs of TV time. That being the case, some will just have to content themselves with running a good business at a high level. I'm glad it's that second type at the helm of M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB).

Results for this mid-Atlantic lender weren't jaw-dropping, but that's OK. Knowing that company execs aren't going to do anything crazy to gun the numbers, I'm OK with them shepherding this bank through a tough time in the sector with just average results.

Net income rose 7% this quarter, and EPS grew 9%, as the company saw a 1% increase in net interest income and an 8% gain in non-interest income. While that last number looks good, it's not quite all that it seems. Oh, the money's there; it's just that what I'd consider the "core constituents" were up in the low single digits (service charges, mortgage banking income, and so forth), and the big bump was from better trading and foreign exchange results.

Turning to the balance sheet, we see that loans were up modestly on better mortgage and commercial lending, while U.S. deposits were up at a double-digit rate. The net interest margin fell a bit from last year but was up sequentially, and the company's spread shrank about 8% to 3.18%.

While I suppose M&T looks a fair bit like your average regional bank, I think it has a few aces up its sleeve. First, I consider Allied Irish Bank's (NYSE:AIB) ownership stake to be a plus, since it does have board membership. Second, while it doesn't really mean much from an operational standpoint, I do believe that many investors regard Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE:BRKa) stake as something of a seal of approval.

Last and not least, I just like the way management runs this place. Returns on assets and equity are pretty strong right now, and they'd be stronger if not for the impact of acquisitions. Further, I like its diversified loan portfolio, good expense control, relatively low cost of funds, and rising proportion of non-interest income.

That leads me to think that M&T deserves more than a run-of-the-mill valuation. There are plenty of bank companies that operate in the New York-Washington corridor, to say nothing of elsewhere in the country or world, but I'd still take these guys ahead of CommerceBancorp (NYSE:CBH) and many other of their regional peers.

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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).