Monument Capital Management Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Monument Capital Management bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in MetLife by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in MetLife by 85.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,321,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,270,000 after buying an additional 607,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $79.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $53.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Piper Sandler downgraded MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.18.

MetLife Profile

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.