GSA Capital Partners LLP Invests $701,000 in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. $MCB

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 9,365 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $201,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Metropolitan Bank during the 2nd quarter valued at $244,000. 79.83% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Up 0.4%

MCB opened at $94.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $970.62 million, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.15. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a one year low of $47.08 and a one year high of $97.84. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $85.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 20th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.70. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 9.73% and a net margin of 13.49%.The company had revenue of $88.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $83.15 million. Equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 27th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, January 27th. This is a positive change from Metropolitan Bank’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Metropolitan Bank’s payout ratio is presently 12.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert C. Patent sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $94.99, for a total value of $949,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 88,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,424,188.15. This represents a 10.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nick Rosenberg sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 25,839 shares in the company, valued at $2,330,936.19. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 16,320 shares of company stock valued at $1,523,103 in the last three months. 6.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Metropolitan Bank from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised Metropolitan Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Metropolitan Bank has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

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.