Providence Capital Advisors LLC Takes Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 80,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,649,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in MetLife by 13.4% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,893 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of MetLife by 188.1% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 417,515 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,577,000 after purchasing an additional 272,619 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,176,469 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $96,905,000 after buying an additional 96,523 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in MetLife by 256.8% in the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 62,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,161,000 after buying an additional 45,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in MetLife by 8.3% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 393,035 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,374,000 after buying an additional 30,200 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Performance

MetLife stock opened at $76.29 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.90 and a 200-day moving average of $78.81. The firm has a market cap of $50.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.77. MetLife, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.21 and a 1-year high of $87.39.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.34 by $0.24. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.81% and a net margin of 4.38%.The company had revenue of $18.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. MetLife’s revenue was up 27.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MET has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price target on shares of MetLife and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $102.00 price objective on MetLife in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.64.

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.