Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Increases Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• The Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 14.7%, acquiring an additional 18,114 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to 141,749 shares valued at approximately $11.38 million.
• MetLife reported quarterly earnings of $2.02 per share, missing analysts' expectations of $2.32, with revenue also falling short at $17.34 billion compared to an expected $18.58 billion.
• The company declared a $0.5675 quarterly dividend to be paid on September 9th, reflecting a 2.8% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 38.47%.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 14.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 141,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 18,114 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in MetLife were worth $11,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $711,597,000 after purchasing an additional 36,177 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $594,410,000 after buying an additional 259,993 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $570,816,000 after acquiring an additional 57,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 3.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $535,568,000 after acquiring an additional 236,698 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET traded down $2.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $79.51. 4,830,111 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,797,014. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $78.26 and its 200-day moving average is $78.39. The stock has a market cap of $52.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.87. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.28 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.60.

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.