S Bank Fund Management Ltd Invests $493,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd has acquired a stake in MetLife, Inc. worth approximately $493,000, purchasing 6,145 shares.
• MetLife has announced a stock buyback plan allowing for the repurchase of up to $3.00 billion in shares, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.
• In its latest quarterly earnings, MetLife reported an EPS of $2.02, falling short of analysts' estimates, with revenue declining 2.7% year-over-year to $17.34 billion.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 6,145 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MET. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in MetLife by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $312,946,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in MetLife by 15.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 958,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8,789.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 815,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $65,508,000 after acquiring an additional 806,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Stock Down 0.7%

NYSE MET traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $77.34. 2,660,701 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,562,289. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.32 by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. MetLife's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $98.00 price objective (down from $99.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group cut 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company 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.