Wall Street Zen Upgrades Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) to “Buy”

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Metropolitan Bank presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

Metropolitan Bank Price Performance

MCB stock opened at $83.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The firm has a market cap of $848.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.99. Metropolitan Bank has a 12-month low of $47.08 and a 12-month high of $97.84.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 4,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.28, for a total transaction of $410,184.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 84,240 shares in the company, valued at $7,773,667.20. This represents a 5.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 16,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,103 in the last 90 days. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 70.4% during 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 last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 41.5% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

About Metropolitan Bank

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.