Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 558,882 shares, a growth of 17.8% from the February 12th total of 474,622 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 294,408 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 5.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 5.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 294,408 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,330,936.19. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total transaction of $949,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 88,685 shares in the company, valued at $8,424,188.15. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 15,695 shares of company stock worth $1,472,847 over the last three months. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the third quarter worth about $57,229,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 66.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 592,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,266,000 after buying an additional 236,946 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Metropolitan Bank by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 559,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,722,000 after buying an additional 299,061 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 427,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,616,000 after buying an additional 23,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,486,000 after acquiring an additional 20,750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MCB traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.80. 200,296 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 225,361. Metropolitan Bank has a 1-year low of $47.08 and a 1-year high of $97.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $807.54 million, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $87.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $79.42.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The company had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. Equities research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 27th. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 12.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MCB shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Metropolitan Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.00.

About Metropolitan Bank

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.