Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys New Position in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 15,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,249,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MET. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in MetLife by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,019,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 109.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $722,727,000 after acquiring an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in MetLife by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,052,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $577,434,000 after acquiring an additional 958,458 shares during the period. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE:MET opened at $79.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. MetLife, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.21 and a 52-week high of $89.05. The firm has a market cap of $53.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $77.79 and its 200 day moving average is $80.19.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a net margin of 6.08% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.17.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.