Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

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

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCB opened at $83.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $848.98 million, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.15. Metropolitan Bank has a 12 month low of $47.08 and a 12 month high of $97.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $86.47 and a 200-day moving average of $78.96.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 13.49%.The business had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $83.15 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank will post 7.31 EPS 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s 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 owned 25,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 88,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,424,188.15. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,103. 6.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 7.7% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.