MetLife (MET) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, AFL or MET?

Aflac has a beta of 0.81, meaning that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MetLife has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AFL or MET more profitable?

Aflac has a net margin of 21.27% compared to MetLife's net margin of 6.08%. MetLife's return on equity of 20.89% beat Aflac's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aflac	21.27%	15.55%	3.30%
MetLife	6.08%	20.89%	0.87%

Do analysts rate AFL or MET?

Aflac currently has a consensus target price of $107.07, indicating a potential upside of 5.42%. MetLife has a consensus target price of $95.58, indicating a potential upside of 23.03%. Given MetLife's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe MetLife is more favorable than Aflac.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aflac	2 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.07
MetLife	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Does the media prefer AFL or MET?

In the previous week, MetLife had 30 more articles in the media than Aflac. MarketBeat recorded 59 mentions for MetLife and 29 mentions for Aflac. Aflac's average media sentiment score of 1.40 beat MetLife's score of 0.48 indicating that Aflac is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Aflac	21 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
MetLife	14 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	28 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Is AFL or MET a better dividend stock?

Aflac pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. MetLife pays an annual dividend of $2.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Aflac pays out 36.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. MetLife pays out 36.9% 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. Aflac has raised its dividend for 44 consecutive years and MetLife has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years.

Which has higher earnings and valuation, AFL or MET?

Aflac has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
Aflac	$18.93B	2.90	$5.44B	$6.40	15.87
MetLife	$70.99B	0.73	$4.43B	$6.15	12.63

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AFL or MET?

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

Summary

Aflac beats MetLife on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.