Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Director Robert Patent Sells 4,445 Shares

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Director Robert Patent sold 4,445 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total transaction of $410,184.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 84,240 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,773,667.20. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

Metropolitan Bank stock traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $88.87. 125,286 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 145,330. The stock has a market cap of $915.31 million, a P/E ratio of 13.36 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $78.75 and its 200-day moving average is $75.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $47.08 and a 12 month high of $96.75.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 27th. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.02%.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 41.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $199,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MCB. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB), through its principal subsidiary Metropolitan Commercial Bank, operates as a New York–based regional financial institution providing a range of commercial and consumer banking services. The company offers deposit products including checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as business and personal certificates of deposit. On the lending side, Metropolitan Bank extends commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, working capital lines of credit and consumer installment loans tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual customers.

In addition to traditional deposit and lending services, Metropolitan Bank provides specialized treasury and cash-management solutions, foreign exchange services and letters of credit for both domestic businesses and multinational clients.