Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Director Dale Fredston Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) Director Dale Fredston sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.09, for a total transaction of $178,180.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,306,772.12. This trade represents a 12.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE MCB opened at $89.06 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 1 year low of $64.66 and a 1 year high of $102.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $92.78 and a 200 day moving average of $90.35.

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). The company had revenue of $93.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.39 million. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.22% and a net margin of 14.31%.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 31st. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the second quarter valued at $119,413,000. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the second quarter worth about $20,776,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the second quarter worth about $19,295,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 611.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 141,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,795,000 after purchasing an additional 121,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ranger Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 2nd quarter worth about $10,849,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank is the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1999, the bank provides banking and financial services to businesses, nonprofit organizations, public entities, entrepreneurs and individual customers.

Its offerings include commercial and industrial lending, commercial real estate and multifamily loans, residential lending, business and consumer deposit accounts, treasury management, cash-management services and private banking.