Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC Purchases New Position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC has acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., purchasing 10,669 shares valued at approximately $597,000 during the first quarter.
• Metropolitan Bank's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.76 earnings per share and a revenue of $76.27 million.
• The company announced a $50 million share buyback plan and a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, indicating potential management confidence in the stock's value.

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 10,669 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $597,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned 0.10% of Metropolitan Bank as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter valued at about $1,771,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 45.4% during the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 13,405 shares of the company's stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 4,187 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC raised its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 7.5% during the first quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,707 shares of the company's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 13.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 234,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,126,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Metropolitan Bank

In related news, Director Dale C. Fredston sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.65, for a total transaction of $235,950.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,114,313.20. This trade represents a 17.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Harvey Gutman sold 1,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $109,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,743 shares in the company, valued at $1,469,638.63. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,446 shares of company stock valued at $2,787,379. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MCB stock opened at $77.95 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.33. The company has a market capitalization of $812.23 million, a P/E ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $47.08 and a fifty-two week high of $81.33.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.50 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank declared that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 28th. Metropolitan Bank's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.

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