MetLife's (MET) Buy (B) Rating Reaffirmed at Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• MetLife's stock has maintained a "buy (B)" rating by Weiss Ratings, reaffirming investor confidence despite recent fluctuations in analyst opinions.
• Analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with an average price target of $95.18, reflecting a mix of positive and cautious outlooks across various firms.
• MetLife's latest earnings report showed a missed EPS estimate of $2.02 compared to the expected $2.32, indicating potential challenges in revenue growth with a reported decline year-over-year.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler cut MetLife from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research raised MetLife to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MetLife presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.18.

MetLife Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE MET opened at $82.02 on Wednesday. MetLife has a 12 month low of $65.21 and a 12 month high of $89.05. The stock has a market cap of $54.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.86. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $79.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MetLife by 88.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 6,328 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 422,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $33,937,000 after purchasing an additional 19,192 shares in the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in MetLife by 52.1% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 9,355 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $751,000 after purchasing an additional 3,204 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc purchased a new position in MetLife in the 1st quarter worth approximately $255,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in MetLife by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 60,785 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,735,000 after purchasing an additional 10,414 shares in the last quarter. 94.99% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.