MetLife, Inc. $MET Shares Acquired by Comerica Bank

Key Points

• Comerica Bank increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 2.9%, owning 210,808 shares worth approximately $16.93 million as of the end of the first quarter.
• MetLife reported $2.02 earnings per share for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.30 and showing a 2.7% revenue decline compared to the previous year.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 2.8%.

Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 210,808 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 5,955 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in MetLife were worth $16,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter worth $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth $312,946,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 1,824,907 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in MetLife by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 8,789.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $65,508,000 after buying an additional 806,711 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $80.86 on Tuesday. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. 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 has a market capitalization of $53.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.85. The business's fifty day moving average price is $77.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.43.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MET? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.