Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $95.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Metropolitan Bank traded as high as $80.20 and last traded at $79.28, with a volume of 286376 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.32.

Separately, Hovde Group upped their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 23,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.43, for a total value of $1,512,349.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 94,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,162,524.55. This trade represents a 19.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Norman Scott sold 3,293 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.57, for a total value of $199,457.01. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 12,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $759,911.22. The trade was a 20.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 61,450 shares of company stock worth $4,005,911. Insiders own 6.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCB. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,772,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 128.9% during the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 6,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 3,617 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $221,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 245,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,343,000 after buying an additional 30,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter worth approximately $128,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 0.1%

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $68.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $831.58 million, a PE ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 1.08.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 13.68%. The company had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $72.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 28th.

Metropolitan Bank announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 17th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area.