Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.73 EPS

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.73, Zacks reports. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 13.49%.The firm had revenue of $88.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.33 million.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Down 2.9%

MCB stock opened at $88.70 on Wednesday. Metropolitan Bank has a fifty-two week low of $53.80 and a fifty-two week high of $97.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $85.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34 and a beta of 1.13.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 1st. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Metropolitan Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Zacks Research raised Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $93.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metropolitan Bank news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total value of $949,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 88,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,424,188.15. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 66.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 592,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,266,000 after acquiring an additional 236,946 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 559,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,722,000 after acquiring an additional 299,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 427,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,616,000 after acquiring an additional 23,070 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,486,000 after acquiring an additional 20,750 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 242,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,523,000 after buying an additional 5,236 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

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.