Salzhauer Michael Sells 16,500 Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Salzhauer Michael cut its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 40.8%, selling 16,500 shares in Q4 and now holds 23,955 shares (about 0.23% of the company, valued at ~$1.83M).
• Metropolitan Bank recently beat expectations with quarterly EPS of $2.92 vs. $2.19 and revenue of $88.49M, and announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.25 (ex-dividend May 1, paid May 12).
• Analysts have mostly upgraded the stock; the consensus rating is a Buy with a $95 consensus price target following several upgrades and new coverage.

Salzhauer Michael lessened its stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) by 40.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,955 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,500 shares during the period. Metropolitan Bank accounts for 0.8% of Salzhauer Michael's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Salzhauer Michael owned about 0.23% of Metropolitan Bank worth $1,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,670 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter worth about $199,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group began coverage on Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.00.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of Metropolitan Bank stock opened at $88.31 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a one year low of $60.22 and a one year high of $97.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $88.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.33 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 11.76%.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. Metropolitan Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Metropolitan Bank Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.