MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $95.0833.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of MetLife in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price target on shares of MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays set a $90.00 target price on MetLife in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded MetLife to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of MetLife during the 1st quarter valued at about $307,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 187.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,680,000 after acquiring an additional 21,771 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of MetLife by 0.8% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,434,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 8.3% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,494 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $78.32 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.75 and a 200 day moving average of $79.01. The company has a market capitalization of $51.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.76. MetLife has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $88.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.64 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 21.00% and a net margin of 5.30%.The business’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 3rd. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.75%.

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.