Rhumbline Advisers Has $977,000 Stock Position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Rhumbline Advisers reduced its position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. by 19.1%, owning 17,457 shares valued at approximately $977,000.
• Metropolitan Bank received mixed ratings from analysts, with Hovde Group and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgrading their price targets, while Zacks Research downgraded to a "hold" rating.
• The bank announced a $50 million share buyback program, indicating that the board believes its shares are undervalued.

Rhumbline Advisers decreased its position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,457 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,118 shares during the quarter. Rhumbline Advisers owned 0.16% of Metropolitan Bank worth $977,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 289.5% during the first 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. Jump Financial LLC grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 45.4% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 13,405 shares of the company's stock worth $751,000 after buying an additional 4,187 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 3.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 669,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,470,000 after buying an additional 23,859 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 4th quarter worth about $12,109,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,263,000 after purchasing an additional 27,014 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCB traded down $1.34 during trading on Monday, hitting $77.76. The company had a trading volume of 59,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 98,753. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52 week low of $47.08 and a 52 week high of $81.33. The business's 50-day moving average is $75.26 and its 200 day moving average is $66.37. The company has a market cap of $810.31 million, a P/E ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 1.16. 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 (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 17th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, Director Harvey Gutman sold 1,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $109,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,743 shares in the company, valued at $1,469,638.63. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.02, for a total value of $395,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 98,685 shares in the company, valued at $7,798,088.70. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,696 shares of company stock worth $2,430,346. Insiders own 6.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCB shares. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Zacks Research lowered Metropolitan Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.67.

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.