MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.17.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

MetLife Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:MET opened at $80.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.02, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. MetLife has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.17.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The business’s revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th were given a $0.5675 dividend. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. This is a boost from MetLife’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is 36.91%.

MetLife declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to repurchase $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MET. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $730,716,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of MetLife by 33.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 24,663,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,019,427,000 after buying an additional 6,213,923 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter worth approximately $336,965,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $312,946,000. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 43.7% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,663,177 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $463,701,000 after acquiring an additional 1,723,461 shares during the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Company 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.