Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Buys New Position in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 70.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the first quarter valued at approximately $103,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Metropolitan Bank in the second quarter valued at approximately $361,000. Finally, Cox Capital Mgt LLC grew its stake in Metropolitan Bank by 11.9% in the first quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 11,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares in the last quarter. 79.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Metropolitan Bank from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.50 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Metropolitan Bank in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Metropolitan Bank Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCB opened at $50.74 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. has a 12 month low of $30.20 and a 12 month high of $57.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.48 and a 200-day moving average of $43.17. The company has a market capitalization of $567.78 million, a P/E ratio of 8.35 and a beta of 1.13.

Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.57 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $121.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.02 million. Metropolitan Bank had a net margin of 15.22% and a return on equity of 10.47%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. will post 6.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Metropolitan Bank

In related news, EVP Scott Lublin sold 1,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,145,513.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Scott Lublin sold 1,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,077 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,145,513.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark R. Defazio sold 34,986 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.34, for a total value of $1,936,125.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 181,208 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,028,050.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.