Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $1.18 Million Investment in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 11,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,179,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCB. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 0.3% during the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 69,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,226,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 6.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 0.7%

Metropolitan Bank stock opened at $91.07 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $95.05 and its 200-day moving average is $90.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 1 year low of $64.66 and a 1 year high of $102.04. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.42, for a total transaction of $181,458.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,229,524.84. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Harvey Gutman sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.58, for a total value of $268,740.00. Following the completion of 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 29,897 shares of company stock valued at $2,797,252. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Metropolitan Bank 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.