Martingale Asset Management L P Sells 4,307 Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P sold 4,307 shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., lowering its stake by 19.5%, and now holds approximately 17,830 shares valued at $998,000.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Metropolitan Bank, with Hovde Group setting a new target of $79.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increasing theirs to $95.00, both assigning an "outperform" rating.
• The company recently announced a $50 million stock buyback program and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, indicating confidence in its valuation and financial stability.

Martingale Asset Management L P lowered its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 19.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,830 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,307 shares during the period. Martingale Asset Management L P owned approximately 0.17% of Metropolitan Bank worth $998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCB. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 749.4% during the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 316,191 shares of the company's stock worth $17,704,000 after buying an additional 278,966 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the fourth quarter worth about $12,109,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter worth about $10,206,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 145.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 71,207 shares of the company's stock worth $3,987,000 after buying an additional 42,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 291,235 shares of the company's stock worth $17,008,000 after buying an additional 41,449 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Harvey Gutman sold 1,400 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $109,774.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,469,638.63. This trade represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.05, for a total value of $93,812.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 29,589 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,220,654.45. This represents a 4.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,077 shares of company stock worth $5,011,105 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.09% of the company's stock.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 5.9%

Shares of Metropolitan Bank stock opened at $76.9990 on Monday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $71.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.84. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $47.08 and a 52-week high of $80.20. The firm has a market cap of $802.33 million, a PE ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

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

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

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.

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