Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Hovde Group

Analysts at Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, StockNewsAPI reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $65.50 price target on the stock. Hovde Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 27.11% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Metropolitan Bank from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $67.50 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

NYSE MCB opened at $51.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $576.78 million, a P/E ratio of 8.48 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Metropolitan Bank has a fifty-two week low of $30.20 and a fifty-two week high of $57.69.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.07). Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 10.47%. The company had revenue of $121.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.02 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Metropolitan Bank will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Metropolitan Bank news, EVP Scott Lublin sold 1,005 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total transaction of $55,385.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,077 shares in the company, valued at $3,145,513.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 34,986 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.34, for a total value of $1,936,125.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,028,050.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott Lublin sold 1,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.11, for a total value of $55,385.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,145,513.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCB. Banc Funds Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Banc Funds Co. LLC now owns 235,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,051,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 226.5% during the fourth quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 159,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,821,000 after purchasing an additional 110,493 shares in the last quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 146,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,117,000 after purchasing an additional 5,575 shares in the last quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC increased its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 11.9% during the first quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 11,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the first quarter worth approximately $103,000. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Metropolitan Bank Company Profile

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.