29,377 Shares in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB Acquired by Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 29,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,198,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 41.5% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

Metropolitan Bank stock opened at $92.85 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $47.08 and a 52-week high of $96.75. The company has a market cap of $956.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.39 and its 200 day moving average is $76.07. 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 (NYSE:MCB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 9.73%. The firm had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $83.15 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 4,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total value of $410,184.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 84,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,667.20. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,103. 6.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.