Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Raises Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 3.6% during the second quarter, now holding approximately 708,088 shares valued at about $56.9 million.
• MetLife's latest quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.02, which fell short of the consensus estimate of $2.32, with revenue declining 2.7% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share, representing a 2.9% dividend yield, set to be paid on December 9th to stockholders recorded by November 4th.

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 3.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 708,088 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 24,772 shares during the quarter. MetLife makes up approximately 1.3% of Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of MetLife worth $56,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aspiriant LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 15.9% in the 2nd quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,566 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in MetLife by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 72,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,838,000 after buying an additional 7,985 shares in the last quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in MetLife by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 21,738 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,748,000 after buying an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arista Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 2nd quarter valued at about $470,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Up 0.9%

MET stock opened at $78.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $52.24 billion, a PE ratio of 13.31, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $80.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.11. MetLife, Inc. has a one year low of $65.21 and a one year high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 38.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MET. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 8th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $95.18.

About MetLife

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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