JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 178,363 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 62,327 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.73% of Metropolitan Bank worth $13,345,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the third quarter valued at approximately $57,229,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 404,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,232,000 after buying an additional 24,115 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Metropolitan Bank by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 324,991 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,316,000 after buying an additional 26,522 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its position in Metropolitan Bank by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 151,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,333,000 after buying an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 7.9% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 149,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,218,000 after buying an additional 11,009 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.83% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of MCB opened at $80.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $87.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.51. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $47.08 and a 12 month high of $97.84. 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 (NYSE:MCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. The firm had revenue of $88.41 million during 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 anticipate that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 27th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is presently 12.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.21, for a total transaction of $112,762.50. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total transaction of $949,900.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 88,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,424,188.15. The trade was a 10.13% decrease in their position. 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 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MCB. Wall Street Zen downgraded Metropolitan Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research raised Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated 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 company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $92.00.

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.