Engineers Gate Manager LP Sells 12,707 Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP cut its Metropolitan Bank stake by 38.7%, selling 12,707 shares during the second quarter and retaining 20,166 shares worth approximately $1.99 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high at 79.83%, with several major investors—including Ranger Investment Management and Bank of America—initiating or significantly increasing positions.
• Analysts maintain an overall “Buy” rating with an average price target of $105, although targets were recently reduced. Metropolitan Bank also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.35, while its latest earnings of $1.54 per share fell short of the $2.30 consensus estimate.

Engineers Gate Manager LP reduced its stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,166 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,707 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP owned 0.16% of Metropolitan Bank worth $1,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,033,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter valued at $10,849,000. Man Group plc acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the second quarter worth $1,442,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 611.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 141,613 shares of the company's stock worth $11,795,000 after acquiring an additional 121,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $2,632,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCB has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $105.00.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

MCB stock opened at $90.40 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $64.66 and a 12 month high of $102.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.97. The company's 50-day moving average price is $93.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.30.

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

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is currently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, CFO Daniel F. Dougherty bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $89.98 per share, for a total transaction of $89,980.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 33,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,066.06. This trade represents a 3.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $181,458.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,202 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,524.84. The trade was a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,897 shares of company stock valued at $1,113,362. 5.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Profile

Metropolitan Bank is the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1999, the bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, nonprofit organizations, public entities, entrepreneurs and individual customers.

Its offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and multifamily loans, residential lending, business and consumer deposit accounts, treasury management, cash-management services and private banking.

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