Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. by 18.9%, now holding 134,211 shares worth approximately $7.5 million.
• Metropolitan Bank recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.76, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.62, alongside a revenue of $76.27 million.
• The company announced a $50 million share buyback program reflecting the board's confidence in the stock's valuation, as well as a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 134,211 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,376 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 1.26% of Metropolitan Bank worth $7,514,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 289.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 596 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $84,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Metropolitan Bank by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $352,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 20,517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.43, for a total transaction of $1,342,427.31. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 94,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,162,524.55. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.64, for a total value of $393,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,631,516.56. The trade was a 9.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 73,077 shares of company stock worth $5,011,105. 6.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of 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, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.67.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

NYSE MCB traded up $0.5210 on Monday, hitting $77.4410. The stock had a trading volume of 48,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,871. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.00 and a 200-day moving average of $63.93. The company has a market capitalization of $806.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55 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 Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $47.08 and a 52-week high of $80.20.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.69%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. Equities 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 repurchase plan on Thursday, July 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

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

About Metropolitan Bank

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.