Insider Selling: Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) EVP Sells 1,250 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Nick Rosenberg, EVP of Metropolitan Bank, sold 1,250 shares at an average price of $79.47, totaling $99,337.50, reducing his ownership by 4.22% to approximately 28,339 shares.
• Metropolitan Bank reported earnings of $1.76 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15, with a current dividend yield of 0.7%.
• The company initiated a $50 million share repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that the stock may be undervalued and enhancing shareholder value.

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.47, for a total transaction of $99,337.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 28,339 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,100.33. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Nick Rosenberg also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 3rd, Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.05, for a total transaction of $93,812.50.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

NYSE:MCB traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $77.76. The stock had a trading volume of 59,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 99,052. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 1-year low of $47.08 and a 1-year high of $81.33. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $75.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $810.23 million, a P/E ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The business had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 28th were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 28th. Metropolitan Bank's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.72%.

Metropolitan Bank announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, July 17th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 289.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 596 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 45.4% during the 1st quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 13,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 4,187 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 669,219 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,470,000 after acquiring an additional 23,859 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,109,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,605 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,263,000 after acquiring an additional 27,014 shares in the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MCB. Hovde Group raised their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.67.

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.