6,286 Shares in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Bought by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp invested approximately $352,000 in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., acquiring 6,286 shares, amounting to 0.06% of the company's stock as of the last quarter.
• CEO Mark R. Defazio sold over 20,000 shares for approximately $1.34 million, decreasing his ownership by 17.89%, while company insiders have sold a total of $4.3 million in stocks over the past 90 days.
• Metropolitan Bank announced a stock buyback program worth $50 million and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $352,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of Metropolitan Bank as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the fourth quarter valued at $956,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 645,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,689,000 after purchasing an additional 10,545 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 1,726.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 149,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,718,000 after purchasing an additional 141,107 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 138.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 5,268 shares during the period. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 53,617 shares of the company's stock worth $3,131,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE MCB traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $74.11. 11,959 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 99,815. 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 1-year low of $42.92 and a 1-year high of $80.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.32. The company has a market cap of $772.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Metropolitan Bank announced that its Board of Directors 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 repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 28th. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is currently 9.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 23,114 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.43, for a total value of $1,512,349.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 94,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,162,524.55. This represents a 19.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 20,517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.43, for a total value of $1,342,427.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 94,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,162,524.55. This trade represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,281 shares of company stock worth $4,299,933 in the last ninety days. 6.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Hovde Group boosted their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th.

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.