Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $93.85, but opened at $87.00. Metropolitan Bank shares last traded at $87.07, with a volume of 291,297 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $862.01 million, a PE ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $86.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.77.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The company had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. Equities analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 27th were given 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 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 currently 12.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total transaction of $949,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 88,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,424,188.15. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 16,320 shares of company stock worth $1,523,103 over the last 90 days. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the third quarter worth $31,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

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.