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

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.23.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MET. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America cut their price objective on MetLife from $99.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of MetLife from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

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

MetLife Price Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $82.48 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.98. MetLife has a twelve month low of $57.91 and a twelve month high of $82.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 1.04.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.13 by $0.15. MetLife had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 21.41%. The firm had revenue of $17.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. MetLife’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that MetLife will post 8.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were given a dividend of $0.545 per share. 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 2.64%. MetLife’s payout ratio is currently 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.