MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.7273.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of MetLife from $96.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays increased their target price on MetLife from $93.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MetLife from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler cut MetLife from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $101.00 price objective on MetLife and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MET. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in MetLife by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of MetLife by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 40,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MetLife by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,663 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,017,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in MetLife in the first quarter valued at about $1,008,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of MetLife by 2.2% during the first quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 117,516 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,316,000 after acquiring an additional 2,511 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.99% of the company’s stock.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET opened at $81.05 on Friday. MetLife has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $88.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $53.40 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.94.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.07. MetLife had a net margin of 5.30% and a return on equity of 21.00%. The business had revenue of $12.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.95 earnings per share. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that MetLife will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 4th were given a dividend of $0.5675 per share. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.75%.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc is a global provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, the company offers a range of risk protection and retirement solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. Its core businesses include life insurance, group benefits, retirement products such as annuities, and supplemental health products including dental and disability coverage.

In addition to traditional life and group insurance, MetLife provides workplace benefits and voluntary products distributed through employer-sponsored programs.