Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New $21.70 Million Investment in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 256,496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $21,702,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of MetLife in the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 21,771 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $404,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the second quarter worth about $444,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $96.57 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. The stock has a market cap of $62.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $93.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.83. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.33 and a 12-month high of $100.93.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 4.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.5925 per share. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.