MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET) Receives $80.23 Consensus PT from Brokerages

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $80.23.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MetLife from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on MetLife from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com lowered MetLife from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on MetLife from $86.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MetLife

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CNB Bank boosted its position in MetLife by 9.3% in the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 1,735 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its holdings in MetLife by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 5,323 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC raised its position in MetLife by 4.7% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of MetLife by 12.5% in the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 1,470 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its position in MetLife by 73.3% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 390 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 165 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.81% of the company's stock.

MetLife Trading Up 1.3 %

MET traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $73.39. The stock had a trading volume of 3,810,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,374,319. MetLife has a 1-year low of $57.70 and a 1-year high of $74.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $71.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.43.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.83. MetLife had a return on equity of 20.39% and a net margin of 3.50%. The firm had revenue of $17.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.73 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that MetLife will post 8.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.545 per share. This represents a $2.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th. MetLife's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 74.91%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

MetLife Company Profile

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.