MetLife (NYSE:MET) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Barclays from $88.00 to $94.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider's stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of MetLife from $88.00 to $86.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $91.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on MetLife from $94.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $94.67.

MetLife Stock Performance

NYSE MET traded down $1.45 on Monday, hitting $79.20. 2,495,461 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,367,654. The business's fifty day moving average is $78.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.09. MetLife has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.88, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $18.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.06 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.89% and a net margin of 6.08%. The firm's revenue was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.83 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 6th were paid a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This is a positive change from MetLife's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 6th. This represents a $2.27 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.91%.

MetLife announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, April 30th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its position in shares of MetLife by 55.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,198 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,775,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in MetLife by 3.6% during the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 366,556 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $29,431,000 after purchasing an additional 12,877 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in MetLife during the first quarter valued at approximately $25,196,000. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,826 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. 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.