Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 256,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,702,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in MetLife by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 326,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,742,000 after buying an additional 46,469 shares during the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at about $81,494,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in MetLife by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 622,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $49,163,000 after purchasing an additional 13,657 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,182,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the second quarter worth about $2,683,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $96.57 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.14 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $67.33 and a 1-year high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 45.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MET shares. Evercore reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, August 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $102.21.

MetLife 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.