Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase increased its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 53.7% in Q3, buying 62,327 shares to hold 178,363 shares (1.71% of the company) valued at $13.35 million, and institutional investors now own 79.83% of the stock.
• Metropolitan Bank beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $2.77 (vs. $2.07 est.) and revenue of $88.41 million (vs. $83.15M est.), while analysts have pushed ratings higher to a consensus "Buy" with an average target of $92 and some targets up to $105.
• Company insiders have sold 16,320 shares (~$1.52M) in the last 90 days, even as Metropolitan Bank raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 ($0.80 annualized, ~1.0% yield).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 53.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 178,363 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 62,327 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.71% of Metropolitan Bank worth $13,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ranger Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 0.6% in the third quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 151,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,333,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 6,344.8% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 8,636 shares of the company's stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 8,502 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,198,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $355,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 25,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,330,936.19. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total transaction of $949,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 88,685 shares in the company, valued at $8,424,188.15. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 16,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,103 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.09% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Down 0.1%

MCB stock opened at $83.77 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $86.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.18. The company has a market capitalization of $847.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.13. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52 week low of $47.08 and a 52 week high of $97.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The business had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. On average, analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank NYSE: MCB, through its principal subsidiary Metropolitan Commercial Bank, operates as a New York–based regional financial institution providing a range of commercial and consumer banking services. The company offers deposit products including checking, savings and money market accounts, as well as business and personal certificates of deposit. On the lending side, Metropolitan Bank extends commercial real estate financing, equipment loans, working capital lines of credit and consumer installment loans tailored to the needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises and individual customers.

In addition to traditional deposit and lending services, Metropolitan Bank provides specialized treasury and cash-management solutions, foreign exchange services and letters of credit for both domestic businesses and multinational clients.

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