AMG National Trust Bank Invests $205,000 in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

AMG National Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,921 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the first quarter worth about $7,012,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in MetLife by 54.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 371,062 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $26,983,000 after purchasing an additional 131,538 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in MetLife by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 2,005,738 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,641,000 after purchasing an additional 35,782 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth about $1,053,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in MetLife by 2,313.7% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 104,877 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,772,000 after purchasing an additional 100,532 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MET has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.00.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $74.34 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.20 and its 200 day moving average is $71.54. MetLife, Inc. has a 12 month low of $57.91 and a 12 month high of $79.34.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.