Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV Invests $890,000 in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 10,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $890,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,727,518,000 after acquiring an additional 7,805,814 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in MetLife during the second quarter worth $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in MetLife by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife in the fourth quarter worth $639,986,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in MetLife by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,012,198 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $553,543,000 after purchasing an additional 176,811 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $87.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MetLife from $103.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Atlantic Securities set a $103.00 price objective on MetLife in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $102.21.

MetLife Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $96.20 on Tuesday. 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 50-day moving average price of $92.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be paid a $0.5925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 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.