** New York-based community lender Metropolitan Bank's MCB.N shares fall 7.3% to $87 premarket

** MCB late Wednesday kicked off a public offering of $175 million worth of shares

** Proceeds will be used for growth initiatives, investments, and other purposes

** UBS Investment Bank and Hovde Group are acting as joint book-running managers

** MCB chief executive Mark DeFazio has indicated interest in purchasing $0.5 million worth of shares in offering, according to prospectus

** Piper Sandler says the move isn't surprising as management has suggested that they would consider raising capital once their stock traded above tangible book value

** "We continue to view Metropolitan as one of the few growth-oriented stories in the banking industry. We believe the additional capital gives MCB some extra dry-powder to support accelerated growth" - Piper Sandler

** MCB had 10.1 million outstanding shares as of February 13, per prospectus

** All three brokerages covering the stock rate "buy"; median PT $102 - data compiled by LSEG

** As of last close, MCB stock down 22.9% YTD

(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru)

((ArasuKannagi.Basil@thomsonreuters.com;))