Short Interest in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Grows By 22.6%

Key Points

• Short interest rose 22.6% in March to 680,953 shares—about 5.8% of the company's stock—with a short-interest ratio of 4.9 days based on average daily volume.
• Analysts have grown more positive: MarketBeat shows a consensus Buy rating (one Strong Buy, three Buy, one Hold) and a consensus target price of $93.67 after several recent upgrades.
• Fundamentals remain solid—Metropolitan Bank beat quarterly EPS estimates ($2.77 vs. $2.07) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 (annualized $0.80, ~0.9% yield).

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 680,953 shares, a growth of 22.6% from the March 15th total of 555,436 shares. Approximately 5.8% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 139,666 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCB shares. Zacks Research upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Metropolitan Bank from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. UBS Group began coverage on Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Metropolitan Bank from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 4,445 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total value of $410,184.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 84,240 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,773,667.20. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $112,762.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,695 shares of company stock valued at $1,472,847. 5.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% during 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 last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 69,851 shares of the company's stock worth $5,226,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% during the first 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 period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,502 shares of the company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in Metropolitan Bank by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the company's stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

NYSE MCB traded down $1.74 on Thursday, hitting $87.47. The stock had a trading volume of 217,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 178,319. The company's 50-day moving average is $86.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.30. Metropolitan Bank has a one year low of $53.32 and a one year high of $97.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 13.49%.The company had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $83.15 million. On average, analysts expect that Metropolitan Bank will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Metropolitan Bank's payout ratio is presently 12.03%.

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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