Kanawha Capital Management LLC Has $4.81 Million Holdings in MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET)

Kanawha Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 58,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 490 shares during the quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC’s holdings in MetLife were worth $4,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MET. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 244.4% in the third quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 310 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 131.9% in the third quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. now owns 327 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 374.3% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 351 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of MetLife in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MET has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MetLife in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $97.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on MetLife from $100.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on MetLife from $97.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.17.

MetLife Price Performance

MetLife stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.00. The stock has a market cap of $57.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.07. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $67.30 and a 12-month 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 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.13 by ($0.05). MetLife had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 20.42%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.63 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. MetLife’s payout ratio is 36.52%.

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.