182,285 Shares in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB Acquired by Nuveen LLC

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

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 749.4% during the 1st quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 316,191 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,704,000 after buying an additional 278,966 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,109,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 145.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 71,207 shares of the company's stock worth $3,987,000 after acquiring an additional 42,156 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 291,235 shares of the company's stock worth $17,008,000 after acquiring an additional 41,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,982,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCB. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.67.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

Shares of MCB traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $78.49. The company had a trading volume of 61,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 97,814. The company has a market capitalization of $817.81 million, a P/E ratio of 12.72 and a beta of 1.13. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a twelve month low of $47.08 and a twelve month high of $80.20. The company's 50-day moving average is $72.00 and its 200-day moving average is $63.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 13.68%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

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 paid 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 payout ratio is presently 9.72%.

Metropolitan Bank declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, July 17th that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Terence J. Mitchell sold 4,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.44, for a total transaction of $347,422.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $958,381.20. This represents a 26.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 94,185 shares in the company, valued at $6,162,524.55. This represents a 17.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,077 shares of company stock worth $5,011,105 in the last three months. 6.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Company 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.