MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCBS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest surged 23.1% in March to 392,881 shares (about 1.9% of shares), leaving a short-interest ratio of roughly 2.3 days.
• MetroCity raised its quarterly dividend to $0.29 (annualized $1.16) for a ~3.7% yield, with an ex-dividend date of April 29 and a payout ratio around 38%.
• The company missed its last quarterly estimates (EPS $0.68 vs. $0.73 expected; revenue $43.74M vs. $44.50M), while the stock trades around $31.58 with a PE of 12.0 and a consensus target of $33 ("Moderate Buy").

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCBS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 392,881 shares, a growth of 23.1% from the March 15th total of 319,195 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 169,771 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

MetroCity Bankshares Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ MCBS traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $31.58. 126,917 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 92,729. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. MetroCity Bankshares has a 52 week low of $24.53 and a 52 week high of $32.01. The stock has a market cap of $907.93 million, a PE ratio of 12.01 and a beta of 0.68.

MetroCity Bankshares (NASDAQ:MCBS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.05). MetroCity Bankshares had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 27.93%.The company had revenue of $43.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.50 million.

MetroCity Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 29th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from MetroCity Bankshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 29th. MetroCity Bankshares's payout ratio is currently 38.02%.

Institutional Trading of MetroCity Bankshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCBS. HoldCo Asset Management LP bought a new stake in MetroCity Bankshares during the 4th quarter valued at $2,671,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in MetroCity Bankshares by 122.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 67,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 37,372 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in MetroCity Bankshares during the 1st quarter valued at $717,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in MetroCity Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $612,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in MetroCity Bankshares by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 477,079 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,662,000 after acquiring an additional 16,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 25.33% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCBS. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on MetroCity Bankshares from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetroCity Bankshares from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MetroCity Bankshares from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

About MetroCity Bankshares

MetroCity Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, MetroCity Bank, the company provides a range of banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. MetroCity Bankshares focuses on community banking, leveraging local expertise to support the financial needs of the greater Houston metropolitan area.

MetroCity Bank offers traditional deposit products, including checking and savings accounts, money market accounts and certificates of deposit.

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