Stevens Capital Management LP Acquires 16,001 Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Key Points

• Stevens Capital Management LP has significantly increased its stake in MetLife, acquiring an additional 16,001 shares, bringing its total holdings to 22,947 shares valued at approximately $1.84 million.
• MetLife has announced a $3.00 billion stock buyback plan, indicating that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $1.96 per share, slightly missing analyst expectations while achieving a revenue of $18.57 billion, surpassing forecasts.

Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 230.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,947 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 16,001 shares during the quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP's holdings in MetLife were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter valued at $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the first quarter worth about $336,965,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $463,701,000 after buying an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $577,434,000 after buying an additional 958,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on MetLife from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $97.00 target price (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.09.

MetLife Price Performance

NYSE:MET traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,227,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,461,158. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.85.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 5th. MetLife's payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.