Engineers Gate Manager LP Sells 12,707 Shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Engineers Gate Manager LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 38.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,166 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,707 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Metropolitan Bank were worth $1,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter worth about $119,413,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 459,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,295,000 after acquiring an additional 32,662 shares during the period. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $20,776,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $19,295,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 611.9% in 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 period. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of MCB stock opened at $90.40 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.97. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 52-week low of $64.66 and a 52-week high of $102.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $93.25 and its 200 day moving average is $90.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.76). The business had revenue of $93.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st were given a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 31st. This is a boost from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Metropolitan Bank’s dividend payout ratio is 17.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Metropolitan Bank from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.42, for a total transaction of $181,458.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,202 shares in the company, valued at $2,229,524.84. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Daniel F. Dougherty acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $89.98 per share, with a total value of $89,980.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 33,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,987,066.06. The trade was a 3.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 11,897 shares of company stock valued at $1,113,362 over the last three months. Insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

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.