Groupama Asset Managment Raises Stake in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 4.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 659,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,779 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in MetLife were worth $52,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Delta Investment Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 0.9% during the first quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 14,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,145,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of MetLife by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Glenview Trust co grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 38,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,078,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in MetLife by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 14,902 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,198,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in MetLife by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 13,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MET shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wolfe Research raised MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MetLife in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.60.

MetLife Stock Up 0.8%

MET opened at $76.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $50.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.83. MetLife, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $89.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $12.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 42.75%.

MetLife Profile

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.