Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $82.66 and last traded at $82.8950, with a volume of 3494 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $81.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 2.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $856.38 million, a PE ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $76.00 and a 200 day moving average of $74.94.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by ($1.28). Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 12.46% and a return on equity of 8.71%. The company had revenue of $79.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.28 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is presently 10.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 625 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.41, for a total transaction of $50,256.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 27,089 shares in the company, valued at $2,178,226.49. This trade represents a 2.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.36, for a total value of $371,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 41,179 shares in the company, valued at $3,062,070.44. This represents a 10.83% 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 purchased 1,167 shares of company stock valued at $83,010 and sold 6,250 shares valued at $467,350. Insiders own 6.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCB. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Metropolitan Bank by 11.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $350,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,367,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at about $533,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.