Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.50.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE MCB opened at $91.24 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank has a 1 year low of $64.66 and a 1 year high of $102.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $94.56 and its 200 day moving average is $89.59.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.76). Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 14.31%.The business had revenue of $93.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $93.39 million.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, Director Harvey Gutman sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.58, for a total transaction of $268,740.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,243 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,634,207.94. This trade represents a 14.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 on 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 directly owned 86,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,309,095.85. The trade was a 10.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 19,897 shares of company stock valued at $1,874,352 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,185,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 178,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,345,000 after buying an additional 62,327 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,632,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 363.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 64,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,951,000 after acquiring an additional 50,844 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.