Sippican Capital Advisors Raises Position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Sippican Capital Advisors grew its position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 26,178 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,057 shares during the quarter. Metropolitan Bank comprises about 1.3% of Sippican Capital Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Sippican Capital Advisors’ holdings in Metropolitan Bank were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 3.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 669,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,470,000 after acquiring an additional 23,859 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 8.2% in the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 328,774 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,408,000 after acquiring an additional 24,982 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 749.4% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 316,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,704,000 after acquiring an additional 278,966 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 11.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 272,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,263,000 after buying an additional 27,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 13.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 234,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,126,000 after buying an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MCB opened at $74.56 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12-month low of $47.08 and a 12-month high of $81.33. The company has a market capitalization of $776.92 million, a PE ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $75.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.44.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.14. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.68% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $72.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 28th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 28th. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 9.72%.

Metropolitan Bank declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 17th that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $81.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Harvey Gutman sold 1,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $109,774.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,469,638.63. The trade was a 6.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.47, for a total transaction of $99,337.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 28,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,100.33. This represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 30,446 shares of company stock valued at $2,336,534. 6.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area.