Sheets Smith Wealth Management Invests $533,000 in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Sheets Smith Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $533,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 289.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares during the period. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the 1st quarter valued at about $84,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $352,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter worth $352,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MCB shares. Zacks Research cut Metropolitan Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Hovde Group upped their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, Director Harvey Gutman sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $109,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,469,638.63. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total transaction of $393,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,631,516.56. The trade was a 9.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,696 shares of company stock worth $2,430,346. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE MCB opened at $76.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $800.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 1.16. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52 week low of $47.08 and a 52 week high of $81.33. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $75.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $76.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 28th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 28th. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is currently 9.72%.

Metropolitan Bank announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area.