United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 147,699 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,497,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MET. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its stake in MetLife by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,211,315 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $639,986,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in MetLife by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,012,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $553,543,000 after purchasing an additional 176,811 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth $455,424,000. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $96.21 on Friday. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $100.93. The company has a market capitalization of $61.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $93.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The business’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on MetLife from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.21.

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.