Impax Asset Management Group plc Boosts Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 8.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 64,728 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,935 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in MetLife were worth $5,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 7.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,126,734,000 after buying an additional 1,824,907 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in MetLife in the first quarter worth $68,030,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $90.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MetLife currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.00.

MetLife Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:MET opened at $79.44 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.90. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.95 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 42.75%.

MetLife Company 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.