Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Makes New Investment in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Key Points

• Segall Bryant & Hamill opened a new stake in Metropolitan Bank, buying 21,341 shares worth about $1.60M (≈0.21% ownership); other institutions including American Century and JPMorgan also increased positions, leaving institutional ownership at roughly 79.8%.
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently — EVP Nick Rosenberg and Director Robert C. Patent sold shares in January, and insiders sold 16,320 shares valued at about $1.52M over the last 90 days; insiders now own 6.09% of the stock.
• Metropolitan Bank beat quarterly expectations with $2.77 EPS vs. $2.07 est. and $88.4M revenue, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 (annualized $0.80, yield ~1.0%), and analysts have pushed targets higher (consensus target ~$92; KBW raised its target to $105).

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 21,341 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,597,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Metropolitan Bank at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 8.9% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 324,991 shares of the company's stock worth $24,316,000 after acquiring an additional 26,522 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 7,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $701,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 53.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 178,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,345,000 after purchasing an additional 62,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 151,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,333,000 after buying an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total value of $949,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 88,685 shares in the company, valued at $8,424,188.15. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 16,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,103. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

MCB stock opened at $79.47 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $86.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.25. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12-month low of $47.08 and a 12-month high of $97.84. The firm has a market cap of $804.24 million, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 9.69%. The business had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is presently 12.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $92.00.

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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