Insider Selling: Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Director Sells 1,400 Shares of Stock

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) 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 value of $109,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,743 shares in the company, valued at $1,469,638.63. This represents a 6.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Metropolitan Bank stock traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $72.83. 78,030 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 117,296. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $69.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $776.35 million, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.08. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a one year low of $40.21 and a one year high of $80.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $76.27 million for 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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.82%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Hovde Group lifted their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 8.5% in the second quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 26,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,832,000 after buying an additional 2,057 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 1.4% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 18,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter valued at $533,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 5.3% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,367,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Metropolitan Bank

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.