Q2 | Auer Growth Fund Stock of the Quarter: Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp, Inc. [MCB]
Q2, 2023 – The managers of the Auer Growth Fund screen thousands of stocks every quarter. This discipline sometimes leads us to an interesting company—with a story or history or performance—that might not be on most investors’ radar. We will be highlighting one of these companies quarterly here. However, we are NOT advocating that the stock is our best-performing stock or that you should purchase it for YOUR portfolio. Because of mutual fund laws and disclosures, we must be careful in discussing any of our holdings, yet we do feel it’s interesting to share information on the company, for this quarter, that we find most intriguing. Please note that, due to our disciplined investment process, this stock may not be currently held in the AUERX portfolio.
The stock for the 2nd quarter of 2023, AUERX stock blog, is Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp Inc., stock symbol MCB. Metropolitan Bank is a regional bank, headquartered in New York City. Because there have been several high-profile regional banks that have had a run on deposits, then have had to shutter their doors or be taken over by the FDIC, and then be pieced out to larger banks, all the regional banks have been under a lot of pressure on their stock prices. We do not think this is justified, and there are some nuggets in the carnage. Metropolitan was founded in 1999 and has their banking centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Great Neck, and Long Island.
As of May 12th, statistics from Yahoo Finance show the last 12 months revenue at 255 million. The company had a market value of 243 million, the market close price was $21.32, the trailing 12 month price to earnings was 3.6x, and the dividend yield was 0.0%. The book value was 54.22 a share, and the 52-week price range was $13.98 low, to $83.14 high.
The banking system is definitely under strain, but AUERX is very interested in the investment potential of a few select regional banks we are holding, such as Metropolitan Bank Holdings Corp, symbol MCB. Metropolitan Bank Holdings constitutes 0.59% of the portfolio.
Holdings are subject to change at any time and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The thoughts and opinions expressed in the article are solely those of the author. The discussion of individual companies should not be considered a recommendation of such companies by the Fund’s investment adviser. The discussion is designed to provide a reader with an understanding of how the Fund’s investment adviser manages the Fund’s portfolio.