Victory Capital Management Inc. Takes $986,000 Position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB)

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. has made a new investment of approximately $986,000 in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., acquiring 17,615 shares during the first quarter.
• Institutional investors own approximately 79.83% of Metropolitan Bank's stock, highlighting strong interest in the company from various financial entities.
• The Metropolitan Bank recently declared a quarterly $0.15 per share dividend and announced a stock buyback program of up to $50 million, indicating confidence in the company's market position.

Victory Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $986,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of Metropolitan Bank as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCB. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the fourth quarter valued at $128,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Metropolitan Bank by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,020 shares of the company's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 6,239 shares of the company's stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 556 shares during the period. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 6,511 shares of the company's stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 1,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Harvey Gutman sold 1,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total transaction of $109,774.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,469,638.63. This trade represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 23,114 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.43, for a total transaction of $1,512,349.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 94,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,162,524.55. This represents a 19.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 63,281 shares of company stock worth $4,299,933. Company insiders own 6.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Hovde Group increased their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 2.3%

NYSE MCB traded down $1.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.90. 110,529 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 110,134. The stock has a market cap of $734.47 million, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a one year low of $40.21 and a one year high of $80.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $69.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.85.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $76.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.67% and a net margin of 13.68%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 17th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 28th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is 9.72%.

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.