AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Acquires New Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs has acquired 22,585 shares of MetLife, valued at approximately $1,775,000, marking a new position in the financial services company.
• MetLife reported $2.02 EPS in its latest earnings, missing analysts' expectations of $2.32, with a revenue of $17.34 billion, down 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675, yielding 2.8%, with a payout ratio of 38.47% as of the last payment on September 9th.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,585 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,775,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 4.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,937,000 after acquiring an additional 19,192 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its stake in MetLife by 52.1% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $751,000 after acquiring an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in MetLife by 20.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,735,000 after acquiring an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at approximately $516,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $80.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.72 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $78.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.32.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. MetLife's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 38.47%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MET. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price target (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.60.

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.

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