Sterling Capital Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) by 15.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,896 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,259 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC owned about 0.24% of Metropolitan Bank worth $2,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the third quarter worth about $57,229,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 66.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 592,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,266,000 after purchasing an additional 236,946 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $42,722,000 after purchasing an additional 299,061 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 427,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,616,000 after buying an additional 23,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 346,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,486,000 after buying an additional 20,750 shares during the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Down 0.2%

Metropolitan Bank stock opened at $99.64 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $91.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.92. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a twelve month low of $64.66 and a twelve month high of $100.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $2.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.73. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.95% and a net margin of 15.89%.The business had revenue of $88.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $87.33 million.

Metropolitan Bank Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 1st. This is an increase from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is currently 12.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCB. UBS Group initiated coverage on Metropolitan Bank in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $103.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.41, for a total value of $964,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 86,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,309,095.85. The trade was a 10.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Harvey Gutman sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.58, for a total transaction of $268,740.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,243 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,634,207.94. This represents a 14.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 18,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,683,890 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.50% of the company’s stock.

Metropolitan Bank 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.