Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 44,178 Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. by 76.3%, selling 44,178 shares, and now owns 13,724 shares valued at approximately $768,000.
• Metropolitan Bank's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations with a reported $1.76 EPS, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 and generating a revenue of $76.27 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share and initiated a $50 million share buyback program, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 76.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,724 shares of the company's stock after selling 44,178 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.13% of Metropolitan Bank worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,020 shares of the company's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 17,998 shares of the company's stock worth $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 289.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 596 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 9,707 shares of the company's stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 13,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $958,381.20. The trade was a 26.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Harvey Gutman sold 1,400 shares of the business'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 sale, the director directly owned 18,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,469,638.63. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,696 shares of company stock valued at $2,755,496 in the last 90 days. 6.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of MCB stock traded up $2.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $80.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 114,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 81,792. The stock has a market capitalization of $837.77 million, a P/E ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $75.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.11. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a one year low of $47.08 and a one year high of $81.33.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $76.27 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $72.50 million. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 13.68%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, July 28th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 28th. Metropolitan Bank's dividend payout ratio is 9.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MCB. Zacks Research cut Metropolitan Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Hovde Group raised their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $82.67.

Metropolitan Bank Company 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.