Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.14 EPS

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.14, Zacks reports. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $76.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

NYSE MCB opened at $79.44 on Friday. Metropolitan Bank has a 1 year low of $40.21 and a 1 year high of $80.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $846.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $67.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $61.73.

Metropolitan Bank Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 28th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%.

Metropolitan Bank declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 17th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 6.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In other news, EVP Scott Lublin sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.03, for a total value of $325,150.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,328,170.37. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Dixiana M. Berrios sold 6,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.00, for a total value of $400,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $870,784. This trade represents a 31.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,450 shares of company stock valued at $4,005,911 in the last 90 days. 6.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCB. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Metropolitan Bank by 3.9% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 778 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 5.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 42,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,367,000 after buying an additional 2,126 shares during the period. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th.

About Metropolitan Bank

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. operates as the bank holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank that provides a range of business, commercial, and retail banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities, and individuals in the New York metropolitan area.