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

Shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $102.2143.

MET has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MetLife from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 22nd. Evercore reaffirmed a “mixed” rating on shares of MetLife in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on MetLife from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded MetLife from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th.

MetLife Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:MET opened at $96.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $62.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.78. MetLife has a one year low of $67.33 and a one year high of $100.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.88.

MetLife (NYSE:MET) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The financial services provider reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.13. MetLife had a return on equity of 23.39% and a net margin of 4.57%.The firm had revenue of $13.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. MetLife’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that MetLife will post 9.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be given a dividend of $0.5925 per share. This represents a $2.37 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. MetLife’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.40%.

MetLife announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to buy up to 4.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MetLife

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 8,029.0% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 73,771,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,241,789,000 after purchasing an additional 72,863,779 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in MetLife by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,555,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,727,518,000 after buying an additional 7,805,814 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in MetLife in the second quarter valued at $4,381,692,000. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MetLife by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 11,883,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $938,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,211,315 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MetLife during the fourth quarter worth about $639,986,000. 94.99% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.