Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also commented on MCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Zacks Research raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Metropolitan Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MCB opened at $79.28 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $87.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.42. 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 12-month low of $47.08 and a 12-month high of $97.84. The company has a market cap of $802.34 million, a P/E ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.13.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 EPS for the quarter, topping 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. Research analysts anticipate that Metropolitan Bank will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 27th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 27th. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metropolitan Bank news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total transaction of $949,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 88,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,424,188.15. This trade represents a 10.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 25,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,330,936.19. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 15,695 shares of company stock worth $1,472,847 over the last quarter. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings 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 valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $2,367,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 107.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 148,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,378,000 after acquiring an additional 76,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 128.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 14,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 8,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.