Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.00.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCB. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

MCB opened at $90.68 on Monday. Metropolitan Bank has a one year low of $62.58 and a one year high of $97.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 1.02.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 15.89% and a return on equity of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $88.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.33 million.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 1st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. 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 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 1st. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.32%.

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.