Invesco Ltd. Buys 87,344 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 1.4%, owning approximately 0.96% of the company, valued at $518.88 million.
• MetLife has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, yielding 3.0%, with an upcoming payout date on September 9th.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed a miss in EPS at $2.02 compared to the expected $2.32, alongside a revenue decline of 2.7% year-over-year.

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,462,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 87,344 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.96% of MetLife worth $518,877,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. Eagle Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC now owns 2,707 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in MetLife by 1.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 13,647 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 2.5% during the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 6,463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.7% during the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 23,661 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,900,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 5.3% during the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 3,315 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of MetLife stock traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $76.56. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,008,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,978. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.90. 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 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued 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). MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%. The business had revenue of $17.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MET shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $98.00 price objective (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $96.00.

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.