Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 12,400 Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Renaissance Technologies initiated a 12,400-share stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding, valued at approximately $1.03 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.83% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $105, although UBS and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods recently lowered their targets to $100 and $110, respectively.
• Metropolitan Bank missed quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.54 per share versus the $2.30 consensus estimate, but increased its quarterly dividend to $0.35, or $1.40 annually.

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 12,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,033,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Metropolitan Bank as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCB. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 66.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 592,799 shares of the company's stock worth $45,266,000 after purchasing an additional 236,946 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 114.8% during the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 559,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,722,000 after buying an additional 299,061 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 459,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,295,000 after buying an additional 32,662 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,486,000 after buying an additional 20,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 242,563 shares of the company's stock worth $18,523,000 after buying an additional 5,236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MCB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Metropolitan Bank from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $105.00.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

Metropolitan Bank stock opened at $94.12 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $64.66 and a 52-week high of $102.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm's fifty day moving average is $95.46 and its 200 day moving average is $90.57. The company has a market cap of $1.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 0.99.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.76). Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 14.31%.The business had revenue of $93.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.39 million.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Metropolitan Bank's dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.29, for a total transaction of $922,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 76,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,031,113.65. This represents a 11.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harvey Gutman sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.58, for a total value of $268,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,634,207.94. This represents a 14.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 29,897 shares of company stock valued at $2,797,252 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

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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