Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $97.84 and last traded at $95.7450, with a volume of 88626 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $96.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, 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 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 given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $948.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $83.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.26. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 13.49%.The firm had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.15 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 27th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 27th. 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%. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director owned 88,685 shares in the company, valued at $8,424,188.15. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 16,320 shares of company stock worth $1,523,103. 6.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 778 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 5.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares in the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at about $244,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 107.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 148,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,378,000 after purchasing an additional 76,745 shares in the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.