Metropolitan Bank (NYSE:MCB) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $60.98, but opened at $63.29. Metropolitan Bank shares last traded at $64.90, with a volume of 17,476 shares traded.

The company reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.39. Metropolitan Bank had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 12.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCB. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $65.50 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Metropolitan Bank from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Scott Lublin sold 3,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.77, for a total transaction of $176,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 52,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,070,908.81. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert C. Patent sold 1,000 shares of Metropolitan Bank stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.32, for a total value of $55,320.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 79,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,377,637.56. This trade represents a 1.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,250 shares of company stock worth $313,093 in the last quarter. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Metropolitan Bank

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sippican Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 18,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,342 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,000. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $302,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Metropolitan Bank by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in shares of Metropolitan Bank during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. Institutional investors own 79.83% of the company's stock.

Metropolitan Bank Trading Up 7.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $736.40 million, a PE ratio of 12.36 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.66.

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.