MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.69.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MET shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $109.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $95.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MET. CX Institutional increased its holdings in MetLife by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 68,005 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $5,568,000 after buying an additional 9,337 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of MetLife by 109.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,826,658 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $722,727,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606,748 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MetLife by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,692 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,940 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in MetLife by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 776,244 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $63,559,000 after purchasing an additional 12,723 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in MetLife during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.99% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Up 0.7%

MET stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $81.24. The company had a trading volume of 392,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,392,041. MetLife has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The company has a market capitalization of $54.54 billion, a PE ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.03 and a 200 day moving average of $81.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). MetLife had a return on equity of 20.42% and a net margin of 6.19%. The company had revenue of $18.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan 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 repurchase up to 5.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 6th will be given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a boost from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. MetLife's payout ratio is presently 36.91%.

About MetLife

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.