Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Director Dale Fredston Sells 2,000 Shares

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Director Dale Fredston sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.09, for a total value of $178,180.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,668 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,306,772.12. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

MCB traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $89.06. The stock had a trading volume of 185,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 152,265. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $64.66 and a fifty-two week high of $102.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.95 and a 200-day moving average of $90.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.97.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.76). The firm had revenue of $93.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.39 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 10.22%.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is a boost from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCB. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Metropolitan Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the second quarter worth $33,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 6.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $502,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 24.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 16.3% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 738 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank is the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1999, the bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, nonprofit organizations, public entities, entrepreneurs and individual customers.

Its offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and multifamily loans, residential lending, business and consumer deposit accounts, treasury management, cash-management services and private banking.