Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $100.53 and last traded at $100.62, with a volume of 11315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on Metropolitan Bank in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.00.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 1.9%

The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.39 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $91.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.20.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $2.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.73. The firm had revenue of $88.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.33 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 10.95%.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Harvey Gutman sold 3,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.58, for a total value of $268,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,634,207.94. The trade was a 14.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.41, for a total value of $964,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 86,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,309,095.85. The trade was a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,683,890. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 69,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,226,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

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.