RNC Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• RNC Capital Management reduced its stake in MetLife by 29.3% in Q4, selling 13,117 shares and leaving 31,666 shares worth about $2.5 million.
• MetLife raised its quarterly dividend to $0.5925 (annualized $2.37) for a ~3.0% yield, with an ex-dividend date of May 12 and payment on June 9.
• MetLife reported Q results with EPS $2.49 versus $2.34 expected and revenue up 27.6% YoY; analysts' consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average target of $93.38.

RNC Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,666 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 13,117 shares during the quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC's holdings in MetLife were worth $2,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of MetLife by 0.9% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 53,659,664 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,419,947,000 after buying an additional 477,783 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in MetLife by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,572,807 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,035,622,000 after acquiring an additional 180,683 shares during the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in MetLife by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,672,023 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $796,685,000 after acquiring an additional 527,388 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in MetLife by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,746,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $640,357,000 after acquiring an additional 352,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MET shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded MetLife from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $93.38.

MetLife Trading Down 1.6%

MET stock opened at $78.95 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $51.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.80, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.53. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $67.33 and a 52 week high of $83.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.15. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The firm had revenue of $52.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.87 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.30%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.

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