Groupama Asset Managment Raises Stock Position in MetLife, Inc. $MET

Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 730,866 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,978 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in MetLife were worth $57,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Thryve Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in MetLife in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $285,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $425,000. SG Trading Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $217,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $232,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in MetLife in the fourth quarter valued at $487,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MET. UBS Group upped their price target on MetLife from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on MetLife from $103.00 to $99.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $89.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.31.

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MET opened at $85.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. MetLife, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $67.33 and a fifty-two week high of $89.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.71.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $14.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.49 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 22.60% and a net margin of 4.66%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a $0.5925 dividend. This represents a $2.37 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This is a positive change from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.93%.

MetLife News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting MetLife this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: World Cup coverage is keeping MetLife Stadium in the headlines, including reports that the final will be played there and that the venue is drawing unusually high attention from fans and media. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: There are also logistics-related stories about congestion and commuter concerns around MetLife Stadium during World Cup events, which may matter more to event operations than to MetLife’s core financial performance. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several players and coaches, including France’s Adrien Rabiot and Didier Deschamps, publicly criticized the MetLife Stadium pitch as hard and poor-quality, raising concerns about the venue’s surface and potentially creating reputational noise around the stadium. Article Title

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.