Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on MCB. Zacks Research raised Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Metropolitan Bank has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:MCB opened at $83.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Metropolitan Bank has a 12 month low of $47.08 and a 12 month high of $97.84. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.69.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $88.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $83.15 million. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.69% and a net margin of 13.49%. Research analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, January 27th. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total value of $112,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,330,936.19. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 4,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total value of $410,184.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 84,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,773,667.20. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 15,695 shares of company stock worth $1,472,847 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Metropolitan Bank

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCB. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $57,229,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 66.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 592,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,266,000 after purchasing an additional 236,946 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 559,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,722,000 after purchasing an additional 299,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 427,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,616,000 after buying an additional 23,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,486,000 after buying an additional 20,750 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

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.