Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Hits New 12-Month High - Here's Why

Key Points

• Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $97.97 after recently closing at $97.06. The stock finished near $98.33 on modest volume.
• Recent analyst activity has been broadly positive, with upgrades and higher price targets helping support sentiment. The consensus rating is now Buy, with an average price target of $103.00.
• The company posted solid quarterly results, beating EPS estimates by a wide margin and also raised its dividend from $0.20 to $0.25 per share. Insider selling has occurred recently, but institutional ownership remains high at 79.83%.

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $97.97 and last traded at $98.33, with a volume of 4729 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $97.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCB shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $97.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $103.00.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $90.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.73. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 15.89%.The business had revenue of $88.49 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $87.33 million.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 1st. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is presently 12.32%.

Insider Transactions at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.41, for a total value of $964,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 86,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,309,095.85. The trade was a 10.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Harvey Gutman sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.58, for a total value of $268,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,243 shares in the company, valued at $1,634,207.94. The trade was a 14.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,000 shares of company stock worth $1,683,890. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,429 shares of the company's stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company's stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,268 shares of the company's stock worth $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 39.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 6,074 shares of the company's stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Metropolitan Bank by 854.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 41,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 37,374 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

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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