Denali Advisors LLC Buys New Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Denali Advisors LLC bought a new stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 187.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the second quarter valued at approximately $444,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MET shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on MetLife from $106.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $102.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $97.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.64.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $93.55 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.33 and a 12 month high of $100.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.29 and a 200-day moving average of $82.08. The company has a market capitalization of $60.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.78.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The business had revenue of $13.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.72 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Announces Dividend

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 given 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 presently 45.40%.

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.