Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Declares Dividend Increase - $0.25 Per Share

Key Points

• Dividend raised: Metropolitan Bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, payable May 12 to shareholders of record May 1, a 25% increase from $0.20 and an annualized yield of about 1.1%.
• Strong quarterly results: The company beat estimates with EPS of $2.77 versus $2.07 expected and revenue of $88.41M, while shares trade near $91 with a market cap of $1.13B and a P/E around 13.7.
• Insider selling and institutional ownership: Insiders sold 15,695 shares (~$1.47M) over the last quarter (insider ownership 5.5%), and institutional investors now hold roughly 79.8% of the stock.

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, April 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. This is a 25.0% increase from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

NYSE MCB opened at $91.05 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $85.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.65. 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 has a twelve month low of $53.80 and a twelve month high of $97.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.13.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.70. The company had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $83.15 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 9.69%.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 4,445 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total value of $410,184.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 84,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,773,667.20. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 owned 25,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,330,936.19. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,472,847. 5.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 69,851 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,226,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 7.7% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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