Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB Shares Sold by AlphaQuest LLC

Key Points

• AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. by 74.8%, selling 5,794 shares and retaining 1,952 shares valued at $109,000.
• Metropolitan Bank's stock price opened at $79.49, with a market capitalization of $828.32 million and a recent earnings per share of $1.76, surpassing expectations.
• The bank's Board of Directors initiated a $50 million share buyback program indicating confidence in the company's undervalued stock status and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 74.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,952 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,794 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Metropolitan Bank were worth $109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newport Trust Company LLC boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,707 shares of the company's stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 234,439 shares of the company's stock worth $13,126,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,605 shares of the company's stock worth $15,263,000 after buying an additional 27,014 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 134,211 shares of the company's stock worth $7,514,000 after buying an additional 21,376 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the 1st quarter worth $10,206,000. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCB has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.67.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:MCB traded down $0.90 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 50,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,931. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $47.08 and a 12 month high of $81.33. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $74.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $824.43 million, a PE ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 1.16.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Metropolitan Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.72%.

Metropolitan Bank announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total value of $393,200.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Terence J. Mitchell sold 4,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $347,422.24. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $958,381.20. This represents a 26.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 81,077 shares of company stock valued at $5,642,155. 6.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Profile

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.