Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $82.45 and last traded at $80.3950, with a volume of 4899 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $79.63.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MCB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered Metropolitan Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 1.4%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $73.24 and its 200 day moving average is $73.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $843.53 million, a PE ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 1.14.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($1.28). The business had revenue of $79.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.28 million. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 12.46%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 30th. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.42%.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 625 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $50,256.25. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 27,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,178,226.49. The trade was a 2.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.36, for a total transaction of $371,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 41,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,062,070.44. The trade was a 10.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 1,167 shares of company stock worth $83,010 and have sold 6,250 shares worth $467,350. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 669,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after purchasing an additional 23,859 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 145.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 71,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,987,000 after purchasing an additional 42,156 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter valued at $10,206,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,263,000 after buying an additional 27,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 234,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,126,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

About Metropolitan Bank

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.