51,151 Shares in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 51,151 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,052,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $119,413,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 236,946 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 299,061 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 7.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 459,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,295,000 after purchasing an additional 32,662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,486,000 after purchasing an additional 20,750 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MCB opened at $90.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.99. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52 week low of $64.66 and a 52 week high of $102.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.43.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.76). Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 10.22%. The company had revenue of $93.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $93.39 million.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.42, for a total transaction of $181,458.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,229,524.84. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Daniel F. Dougherty bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $89.98 per share, for a total transaction of $89,980.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 33,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,987,066.06. This represents a 3.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 26,897 shares of company stock valued at $2,528,512. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Metropolitan Bank 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.