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

Key Points

• MetLife has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from thirteen brokerage firms, with ten analysts issuing a buy recommendation and an average 1-year price target of $94.64.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.02, falling short of analysts' estimates of $2.32, and a net revenue of $17.34 billion.
• MetLife has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5675, translating to an annualized yield of 2.8% and a dividend payout ratio of 38.47%.

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $94.6364.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MET. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MetLife from $86.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group decreased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd.

MetLife Price Performance

MET stock opened at $82.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.17. MetLife has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $54.81 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.86.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). MetLife had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 19.88%. The firm had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $18.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. MetLife's revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.5675 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MetLife by 88.2% in the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 4.8% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in MetLife by 52.1% in the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in MetLife by 20.7% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

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.

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