Short Interest in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Grows By 22.6%

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 680,953 shares, an increase of 22.6% from the March 15th total of 555,436 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 139,666 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 5.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In related news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares in the company, valued at $2,330,936.19. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $410,184.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 84,240 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,667.20. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 15,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,472,847 over the last three months. 5.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

MCB traded down $1.74 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $87.47. 217,906 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 178,319. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.13. Metropolitan Bank has a one year low of $53.32 and a one year high of $97.84.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.70. The business had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.15 million. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 13.49%. As a group, research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank will post 7.31 EPS 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. 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 was Tuesday, January 27th. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.67.

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.