MetLife (MET) Competitors

MetLife (NYSE:MET) and Aflac (NYSE:AFL) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, media sentiment, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Is MET or AFL a better dividend stock?

MetLife pays an annual dividend of $2.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Aflac pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. MetLife pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aflac pays out 52.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. MetLife has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Aflac has raised its dividend for 44 consecutive years. MetLife is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend MET or AFL?

MetLife presently has a consensus target price of $95.60, indicating a potential upside of 18.31%. Aflac has a consensus target price of $109.15, indicating a potential upside of 2.85%. Given MetLife's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe MetLife is more favorable than Aflac.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MetLife	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91
Aflac	2 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.08

Does the media favor MET or AFL?

In the previous week, Aflac had 2 more articles in the media than MetLife. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Aflac and 33 mentions for MetLife. MetLife's average media sentiment score of 1.15 beat Aflac's score of 1.02 indicating that MetLife is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
MetLife	21 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Aflac	23 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is MET or AFL more profitable?

Aflac has a net margin of 15.32% compared to MetLife's net margin of 5.83%. MetLife's return on equity of 19.88% beat Aflac's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MetLife	5.83%	19.88%	0.82%
Aflac	15.32%	15.08%	3.21%

Which has more volatility and risk, MET or AFL?

MetLife has a beta of 0.85, suggesting that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Aflac has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has better valuation & earnings, MET or AFL?

Aflac has lower revenue, but higher earnings than MetLife. MetLife is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aflac, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MetLife	$70.99B	0.76	$4.43B	$5.90	13.70
Aflac	$18.93B	3.00	$5.44B	$4.41	24.07

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of MET or AFL?

95.0% of MetLife shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of Aflac shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of MetLife shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Aflac shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

MetLife beats Aflac on 11 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.