Short Interest in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Drops By 18.9%

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) was the target of a large drop in short interest in January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 470,383 shares, a drop of 18.9% from the January 15th total of 579,657 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 257,135 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Approximately 4.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 257,135 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metropolitan Bank news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 4,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total value of $410,184.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 84,240 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,667.20. This trade represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 16,320 shares of company stock worth $1,523,103 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCB. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,229,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 559,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,722,000 after acquiring an additional 299,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted 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 acquiring an additional 23,070 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,486,000 after acquiring an additional 20,750 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 8.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 324,991 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,316,000 after acquiring an additional 26,522 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 1.3%

MCB stock opened at $94.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $972.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $84.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Metropolitan Bank has a 12 month low of $47.08 and a 12 month high of $97.84.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.03%.

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.