Northside Capital Management LLC Makes New $552,000 Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Northside Capital Management LLC made a new investment of $552,000 in MetLife, acquiring 6,863 shares during the 2nd quarter, highlighting continued interest from institutional investors in the company.
• Analysts have varying views on MetLife's stock, with JPMorgan raising its target price from $86 to $95, while UBS and others adjusted their target prices downward, reflecting a mix of optimism and caution.
• MetLife reported $2.02 EPS for its most recent quarter, missing analysts' expectations, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, yielding 2.8% annually.

Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,863 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $552,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Motco boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 105.5% in the first quarter. Motco now owns 413 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 652.3% in the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 489 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, American National Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 128.4% in the first quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 603 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MET has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut shares of MetLife from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.64.

MetLife Trading Down 0.9%

MET opened at $80.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's 50 day moving average is $78.45 and its 200-day moving average is $78.10. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.28 EPS. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.47%.

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.

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