MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $84.54.

MET has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on MetLife from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded MetLife from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on MetLife from $83.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Institutional Trading of MetLife

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MET. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of MetLife by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $917,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in MetLife by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 78,499 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,191,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in MetLife by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 106,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,036,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of MetLife by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 185,735 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,283,000 after acquiring an additional 816 shares during the period. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MetLife Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of MetLife stock opened at $80.45 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $74.90 and its 200 day moving average is $72.78. MetLife has a one year low of $57.91 and a one year high of $81.85. The firm has a market cap of $57.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. MetLife’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that MetLife will post 8.67 EPS for the current year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.545 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $2.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. MetLife’s payout ratio is presently 74.91%.

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.