Korea Investment CORP Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Korea Investment CORP acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 231,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $19,580,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of MetLife by 205.8% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Prosperity Bancshares Inc acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $93.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, MetLife has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.64.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $94.44 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.19. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $100.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.20 and a quick ratio of 0.20. The company has a market cap of $60.77 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a net margin of 4.57% and a return on equity of 23.39%. The company had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. MetLife’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.40%.

MetLife Company Profile

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.