Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB)’s stock price 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 2.8%

The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.47 and its 200-day moving average is $78.91. 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 firm has a market cap of $848.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.15.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $83.15 million. On average, research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 27th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total value of $949,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 88,685 shares in the company, valued at $8,424,188.15. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 16,320 shares of company stock worth $1,523,103 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake 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 buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Metropolitan Bank by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Metropolitan Bank by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. 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.