Nuveen LLC Invests $10.21 Million in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 182,285 shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., valued at approximately $10.2 million, bringing its ownership to 1.71% of the company.
• CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 43,631 shares of the bank stock, reducing his ownership by 19.71%, with the transactions valued at over $2.8 million.
• Metropolitan Bank announced a share buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of $50 million worth of shares, signaling that its board believes the stock is undervalued.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 182,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,206,000. Nuveen LLC owned about 1.71% of Metropolitan Bank at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $84,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 3.1% in 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. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metropolitan Bank news, Director Terence J. Mitchell sold 4,796 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total value of $347,422.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,230 shares in the company, valued at $958,381.20. The trade was a 26.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 5,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.40, for a total transaction of $392,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 108,685 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,520,904. This trade represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,077 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,205. Corporate insiders own 6.09% of the company's stock.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:MCB traded up $0.43 during trading on Thursday, hitting $79.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 47,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 62,994. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.25. The company has a market capitalization of $826.94 million, a PE ratio of 12.86 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 fifty-two week low of $47.08 and a fifty-two week high of $80.20.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $76.27 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Metropolitan Bank announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 17th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management 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.